Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Downgraded by Barclays

Barclays lowered shares of Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note released on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $434.00 price objective on the specialty retailer’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $612.00.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $574.00 to $627.00 in a research note on Friday, March 15th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $350.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a hold rating and issued a $438.00 target price (down from $585.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $665.00 to $595.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $548.05.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of ULTA stock opened at $402.11 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $492.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $469.32. Ulta Beauty has a one year low of $368.02 and a one year high of $574.76. The firm has a market cap of $19.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.30.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.49 by $0.59. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 61.64%. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.68 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Ulta Beauty will post 26.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, March 14th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty retailer to repurchase up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total value of $11,027,870.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $876,222.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total transaction of $11,027,870.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,523,936.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,326. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ulta Beauty

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Ulta Beauty by 56.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,538,533 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $614,568,000 after buying an additional 556,809 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 3.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 575,658 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $229,947,000 after acquiring an additional 21,828 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 6.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 570,913 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $228,051,000 after buying an additional 33,508 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter worth approximately $263,192,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 177.8% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 407,347 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $199,596,000 after purchasing an additional 260,740 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

About Ulta Beauty

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.