Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Earns “Hold” Rating from Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group reiterated their hold rating on shares of Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a $438.00 target price on the specialty retailer’s stock, down from their prior target price of $585.00.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on ULTA. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $665.00 to $595.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $580.00 to $520.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $535.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $480.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $561.29.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 2.7 %

NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $413.50 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $511.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $468.64. Ulta Beauty has a twelve month low of $368.02 and a twelve month high of $574.76. The company has a market capitalization of $19.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.30.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.49 by $0.59. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 61.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ulta Beauty will post 26.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 14th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty retailer to repurchase up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total transaction of $1,629,325.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total transaction of $1,629,325.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total transaction of $263,130.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at $876,222.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,552 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,326 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ULTA. Prudential PLC acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the first quarter worth $425,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,886,434 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,344,096,000 after purchasing an additional 40,190 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 2.8% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,299 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,305,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 38.6% during the first quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,117 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 59.1% during the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ulta Beauty Company Profile

Ulta Beauty, Inc operates as a specialty beauty retailer in the United States. The company offers branded and private label beauty products, including cosmetics, fragrance, haircare, skincare, bath and body products, professional hair products, and salon styling tools through its Ulta Beauty stores, shop-in-shops, Ulta.com website, and its mobile applications.