Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Given New $350.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) had its target price lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $450.00 to $350.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underweight rating on the specialty retailer's stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on ULTA. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Ulta Beauty from $656.00 to $635.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 15th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Ulta Beauty from $580.00 to $520.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $485.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $574.00 to $627.00 in a research note on Friday, March 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $556.52.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ULTA traded down $8.72 on Wednesday, reaching $410.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 866,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 771,416. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $507.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $469.06. The company has a market cap of $19.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.79, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.30. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $7.49 by $0.59. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion for 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.68 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty will post 26.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, March 14th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty retailer to purchase up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total transaction of $1,629,325.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,705 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the company'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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at $1,420,801.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at $876,222.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 71.4% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,714 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $685,000 after acquiring an additional 714 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 248.1% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,329 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $930,000 after acquiring an additional 1,660 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 20,886 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $8,343,000 after acquiring an additional 624 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 4,242 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,694,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Harvey Investment Co. LLC raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. Harvey Investment Co. LLC now owns 47,383 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $18,927,000 after buying an additional 5,050 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.