Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Trading Down 4% on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) fell 4% during mid-day trading on Monday after Oppenheimer lowered their price target on the stock from $475.00 to $450.00. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Ulta Beauty traded as low as $394.44 and last traded at $396.33. 48,197 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 94% from the average session volume of 800,737 shares. The stock had previously closed at $412.94.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Ulta Beauty from $630.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 31st. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $530.00 to $544.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $485.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $350.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $502.61.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $390.08, for a total transaction of $39,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $786,791.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $388.68, for a total transaction of $252,642.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,643,412.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.08, for a total value of $39,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,017 shares in the company, valued at $786,791.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ulta Beauty

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Czech National Bank boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 9,135 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,525,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the period. Congress Park Capital LLC lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 157.9% during the 2nd quarter. Congress Park Capital LLC now owns 1,470 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $567,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 6,833 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,637,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Optimum Investment Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 95.2% in the second quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 205 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 107.9% in the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 867 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $18.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.37. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $389.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $456.56.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The specialty retailer reported $6.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.19 by $0.28. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 11.13% and a return on equity of 58.06%. The business had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 25.76 earnings per share for the current year.

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.