StockNews.com Downgrades Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) to Sell

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Friday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. William Blair cut Ulta Beauty from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Raymond James cut their target price on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $440.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $470.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $430.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $439.30.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of ULTA opened at $430.01 on Friday. Ulta Beauty has a 1-year low of $318.17 and a 1-year high of $574.76. The company has a market capitalization of $19.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $384.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $379.37.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.69. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.07 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty will post 23.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ulta Beauty

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 83.3% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 66 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Ulta Beauty in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Paladin Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 151.5% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 118.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

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.