Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Up 0.8%

Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) were up 0.8% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $407.00 and last traded at $406.48. Approximately 249,629 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 936,296 shares. The stock had previously closed at $403.29.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on ULTA shares. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $520.00 to $450.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $550.00 to $505.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Ulta Beauty from $375.00 to $345.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $412.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $530.00 to $544.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $425.29.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $19.21 billion, a PE ratio of 15.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.31. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $368.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $409.95.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.47 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.61 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 54.02%. Ulta Beauty’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.02 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In related news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 2,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $786,791.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 2,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $786,791.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $388.68, for a total value of $252,642.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,643,412.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $8,759,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 90.9% during the 2nd quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 168 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,055 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $407,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,500,000. Finally, Brown Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $268,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently 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.