Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Rating Lowered to Neutral at Piper Sandler

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Piper Sandler from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $404.00 price target on the specialty retailer’s stock, down from their previous price target of $494.00. Piper Sandler’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 11.20% from the stock’s previous close.

ULTA has been the subject of a number of other reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Ulta Beauty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $425.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $605.00 to $476.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $438.00 to $412.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $565.00 to $475.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $497.61.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $363.30 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $17.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $388.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $451.16. Ulta Beauty has a fifty-two week low of $363.01 and a fifty-two week high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The specialty retailer reported $6.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.19 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 11.13% and a return on equity of 58.06%. Ulta Beauty’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.88 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Ulta Beauty will post 25.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In other news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 650 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,643,412.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 650 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,801 shares in the company, valued at $2,643,412.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.08, for a total transaction of $39,008.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,017 shares in the company, valued at $786,791.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth $263,192,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the first quarter worth $176,753,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 45,740.3% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 291,544 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $142,854,000 after purchasing an additional 290,908 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 177.8% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 407,347 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $199,596,000 after acquiring an additional 260,740 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $141,988,000 after acquiring an additional 184,060 shares in the last quarter. 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.