Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Stock Price Up 2.1%

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)’s stock price traded up 2.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $399.87 and last traded at $397.30. 386,466 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 931,901 shares. The stock had previously closed at $389.29.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ULTA shares. 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 note on Friday, August 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price 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. B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $300.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $530.00 to $544.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $425.29.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $19.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.70, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $368.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $410.00.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.47 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.61 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 54.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.02 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $390.08, for a total value of $39,008.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,017 shares in the company, valued at $786,791.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $786,791.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, 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. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,227 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $601,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter valued at about $263,192,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $870,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 39.3% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 26,323 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $12,898,000 after buying an additional 7,425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $594,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.