Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) PT Lowered to $520.00 at TD Cowen

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) had its price target decreased by TD Cowen from $580.00 to $520.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $583.00 to $612.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $485.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $480.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $610.00 to $585.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Ulta Beauty from $665.00 to $595.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $561.29.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $413.50 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $511.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $468.13. Ulta Beauty has a fifty-two week low of $368.02 and a fifty-two week high of $574.76. The company has a market cap of $19.96 billion, a PE ratio of 15.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.30.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.49 by $0.59. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 61.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.68 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty will post 26.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 14th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty retailer to purchase up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at $1,420,801.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Ulta Beauty news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total value of $1,629,325.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ulta Beauty

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ULTA. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,886,434 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,344,096,000 after acquiring an additional 40,190 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Ulta Beauty by 1.4% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,997,828 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,090,149,000 after purchasing an additional 27,840 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,580,071 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $774,220,000 after purchasing an additional 6,094 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 56.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,538,533 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $614,568,000 after purchasing an additional 556,809 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,100,246 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $599,089,000 after buying an additional 19,467 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently 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.