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

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) shares fell 4% on Monday after Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price target on the stock from $500.00 to $450.00. Telsey Advisory Group currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Ulta Beauty traded as low as $342.00 and last traded at $352.84. 4,999,700 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 445% from the average session volume of 917,843 shares. The stock had previously closed at $367.58.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on ULTA. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $507.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $375.00 to $345.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $356.00 price objective (down previously from $404.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Ulta Beauty from $552.00 to $448.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $435.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $434.65.

Insider Transactions at Ulta Beauty

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter valued at $320,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 95.9% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 143 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter worth about $288,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 39.5% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 19,039 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $9,260,000 after acquiring an additional 5,391 shares during the period. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,143,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $371.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $423.42. The company has a market capitalization of $16.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.31.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.47 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.61 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 54.02% and a net margin of 10.68%. The company’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.02 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.