Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Price Target Cut to $520.00 by Analysts at TD Cowen

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) had its price objective lowered by TD Cowen from $580.00 to $520.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Telsey Advisory Group restated an outperform rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, March 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $485.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $574.00 to $627.00 in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Ulta Beauty from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on Ulta Beauty from $665.00 to $595.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $568.29.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of ULTA stock opened at $425.11 on Thursday. Ulta Beauty has a 12-month low of $368.02 and a 12-month high of $574.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $514.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $467.55.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) 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. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 61.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.68 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty will post 26.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, March 14th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty retailer to buy up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total value of $263,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at $876,222.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total value of $263,130.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $876,222.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $11,027,870.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at $5,523,936.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT increased its position 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 during the last quarter. Nvwm LLC increased its position 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 during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 during the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. increased its position 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 4.3% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $214,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.