Citigroup Trims Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Target Price to $345.00

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) had its price target decreased by Citigroup from $375.00 to $345.00 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on ULTA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Ulta Beauty from $552.00 to $448.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $530.00 to $544.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $435.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $385.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $522.00 to $500.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $434.65.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 4.0 %

NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $352.84 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $371.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $423.42. Ulta Beauty has a 12-month low of $318.17 and a 12-month high of $574.76. The firm has a market cap of $16.63 billion, a PE ratio of 13.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.31.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.47 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.61 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 54.02% and a net margin of 10.68%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.02 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty will post 23.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.08, for a total value of $39,008.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $786,791.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $388.68, for a total transaction of $252,642.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,643,412.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.08, for a total value of $39,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $786,791.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ulta Beauty

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ULTA. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth about $263,192,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter valued at $176,753,000. 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 purchasing an additional 260,740 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 210.4% during the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 271,550 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $141,988,000 after purchasing an additional 184,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 87.3% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 337,882 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $130,380,000 after purchasing an additional 157,497 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.