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

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

Several other brokerages also recently commented on ULTA. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $535.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $574.00 to $627.00 in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, April 8th. One equities 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $556.52.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 0.4 %

ULTA stock opened at $406.39 on Wednesday. Ulta Beauty has a 1 year low of $368.02 and a 1 year high of $574.76. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $500.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $19.62 billion, a PE ratio of 15.60, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.30.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.68 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty will post 26.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 14th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty retailer to buy up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Ulta Beauty

In other news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total transaction of $263,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $876,222.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,420,801.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total transaction of $263,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $876,222.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,326 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ulta Beauty

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 56.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,538,533 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $614,568,000 after acquiring an additional 556,809 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 3.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 575,658 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $229,947,000 after acquiring an additional 21,828 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 6.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 570,913 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $228,051,000 after acquiring an additional 33,508 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at $263,192,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 177.8% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 407,347 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $199,596,000 after buying an additional 260,740 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

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.