Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA – Get Rating) gapped down before the market opened on Friday after Loop Capital lowered their price target on the stock from $535.00 to $490.00. The stock had previously closed at $485.12, but opened at $436.11. Ulta Beauty shares last traded at $427.15, with a volume of 1,581,288 shares.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on ULTA. Cowen lifted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $503.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 16th. Argus lifted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 31st. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $540.00 in a research report on Friday. Barclays boosted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $548.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $615.00 to $640.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $545.76.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Lorna Nagler sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $541.12, for a total transaction of $649,344.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,588,707.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Lorna Nagler sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $541.12, for a total value of $649,344.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,632 shares in the company, valued at $3,588,707.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $506.65, for a total value of $2,279,925.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,650,286.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 7,355 shares of company stock worth $3,821,507. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. Prudential PLC acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the first quarter worth approximately $425,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,886,434 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,344,096,000 after acquiring an additional 40,190 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 2.8% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,299 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,305,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 38.6% in the first quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,117 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $444,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 59.1% in the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.47% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $520.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $498.38. The company has a market cap of $21.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.31.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 25th. The specialty retailer reported $6.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.82 by $0.06. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 67.19% and a net margin of 12.17%. The company had revenue of $2.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 25.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty Company Profile

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Ulta Beauty, Inc engages in the retail of beauty products. The company has one reportable segment, which includes retail stores, salon services, and e-commerce. Its products include makeup, skin care, tools and brushes, fragrance, and bath and body. Ulta was founded on January 9, 1990, and is headquartered in Bolingbrook, IL.