Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) shares gapped down prior to trading on Friday after TD Cowen lowered their price target on the stock from $580.00 to $520.00. The stock had previously closed at $425.11, but opened at $413.83. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the stock. Ulta Beauty shares last traded at $415.94, with a volume of 112,565 shares traded.

ULTA has been the topic of a number of other reports. Loop Capital raised Ulta Beauty from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $540.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 8th. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $595.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $583.00 to $612.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $630.00 to $610.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $561.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In other news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total value of $11,027,870.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total value of $1,629,325.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total value of $11,027,870.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,494 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,523,936.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 364.3% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 65 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Vima LLC bought a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company's stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $19.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.30. The firm's fifty day moving average is $514.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $467.55.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.49 by $0.59. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 61.64%. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.68 EPS. The business's revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.74 EPS for the current year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, March 14th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty retailer to reacquire up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.