Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation, twelve have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $548.05.

ULTA has been the topic of several recent research reports. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $595.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, March 15th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $580.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, March 15th.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of ULTA stock opened at $394.88 on Tuesday. Ulta Beauty has a 12-month low of $368.02 and a 12-month high of $574.76. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $483.07 and its 200 day moving average is $470.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.36.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.68 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ulta Beauty will post 26.55 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insider Transactions at Ulta Beauty

In other news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $5,523,936.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the business’s 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 $5,523,936.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,326. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.8% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 23,891 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $9,543,000 after buying an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the third quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 20.9% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 15,756 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,294,000 after buying an additional 2,725 shares during the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 10.6% during the third quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 14,602 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,833,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RMR Wealth Builders boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 117.3% in the third quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 2,108 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $842,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.