Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Stock Price Down 1% on Analyst Downgrade

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)’s share price fell 1% on Thursday after TD Cowen lowered their price target on the stock from $395.00 to $390.00. TD Cowen currently has a hold rating on the stock. Ulta Beauty traded as low as $368.95 and last traded at $370.19. 152,162 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 951,648 shares. The stock had previously closed at $373.88.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on ULTA. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $385.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $507.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $450.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $522.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Raymond James cut Ulta Beauty from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $450.00 in a report on Friday, August 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $425.08.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the first quarter valued at about $176,753,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 210.4% during the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 271,550 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $141,988,000 after acquiring an additional 184,060 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 87.3% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 337,882 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $130,380,000 after acquiring an additional 157,497 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 47.7% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 476,027 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $246,862,000 after acquiring an additional 153,727 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 33.6% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 544,072 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $284,484,000 after acquiring an additional 136,725 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $368.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $399.17. The stock has a market cap of $17.44 billion, a PE ratio of 14.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.31.

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