Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) PT Lowered to $595.00 at Piper Sandler

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) had its price objective cut by Piper Sandler from $665.00 to $595.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the specialty retailer's stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on ULTA. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $540.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $480.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an outperform rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $571.95.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of ULTA stock traded up $2.02 on Tuesday, hitting $454.80. The stock had a trading volume of 595,003 shares, compared to its average volume of 764,749. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.30. The stock's 50 day moving average is $525.10 and its 200-day moving average is $466.21. Ulta Beauty has a 52-week low of $368.02 and a 52-week high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.49 by $0.59. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 61.64%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.68 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Ulta Beauty will post 26.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, March 14th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty retailer to buy up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total value of $1,629,325.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total value of $1,629,325.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total transaction of $263,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at $876,222.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Ulta Beauty

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 1,260 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $591,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Nvwm LLC boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $511,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 41.2% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 72 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 554 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathstone Family Office LLC boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 2,852 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,338,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in 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.