Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Price Target to $350.00

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) had its target price lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $450.00 to $350.00 in a research note published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an underweight rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

ULTA has been the topic of several other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $574.00 to $627.00 in a report on Friday, March 15th. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $630.00 to $610.00 and set a strong-buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. DA Davidson reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $595.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $583.00 to $612.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $556.52.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $410.55 on Wednesday. Ulta Beauty has a twelve month low of $368.02 and a twelve month high of $574.76. The company’s 50 day moving average is $505.13 and its 200 day moving average is $468.65. The company has a market cap of $19.82 billion, a PE ratio of 15.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.30.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.68 EPS. Ulta Beauty’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Ulta Beauty will post 26.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 14th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty retailer to reacquire up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Ulta Beauty news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 364.3% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 65 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Vima LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 7,300.0% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 74 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 73 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.