Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Short Interest Up 21.1% in April

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,550,000 shares, an increase of 21.1% from the March 31st total of 1,280,000 shares. Currently, 3.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 826,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ULTA. Piper Sandler cut their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $485.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $595.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, March 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $535.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $350.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $548.05.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA traded down $7.07 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $402.97. The company had a trading volume of 498,016 shares, compared to its average volume of 764,366. Ulta Beauty has a 12-month low of $368.02 and a 12-month high of $574.76. The stock has a market cap of $19.32 billion, a PE ratio of 15.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s 50-day moving average is $497.74 and its 200 day moving average is $469.61.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.49 by $0.59. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 61.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.68 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty will post 26.55 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total value of $11,027,870.50. Following 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 SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at $1,420,801.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Vima LLC bought a new position in Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.