Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Stock Price Down 1% on Analyst Downgrade

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)’s share price was down 1% during trading on Thursday after TD Cowen lowered their price target on the stock from $395.00 to $390.00. TD Cowen currently has a hold rating on the stock. Ulta Beauty traded as low as $368.95 and last traded at $370.19. Approximately 152,162 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 951,648 shares. The stock had previously closed at $373.88.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Ulta Beauty from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $375.00 to $345.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $385.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $300.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Ulta Beauty from $552.00 to $448.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $425.08.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. HBW Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 3rd quarter worth $2,265,000. Rockland Trust Co. raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 674 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $262,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 6.4% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 9,720 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,782,000 after purchasing an additional 585 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust bought a new position in Ulta Beauty during the third quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the second quarter worth about $367,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 2.4 %

The company has a market cap of $17.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $368.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $397.94.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.47 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.61 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 54.02%. The company’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.02 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.21 earnings per share for the current year.

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.