Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) PT Lowered to $400.00

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) had its price target decreased by investment analysts at Citigroup from $485.00 to $400.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. Citigroup’s target price indicates a potential upside of 4.77% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on ULTA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $535.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Ulta Beauty from $565.00 to $475.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $485.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $630.00 to $610.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $580.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $525.86.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock opened at $381.78 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.30 billion, a PE ratio of 14.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.36. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $438.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $470.88. Ulta Beauty has a 52-week low of $368.02 and a 52-week high of $574.76.

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, topping 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 business had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.68 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Ulta Beauty will post 26.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In other news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total transaction of $1,629,325.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,420,801.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total transaction of $263,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $876,222.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total value of $1,629,325.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,326 in the last quarter. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 364.3% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 65 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Vima LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 7,300.0% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 74 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

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.