Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Downgraded by Raymond James

Raymond James cut shares of Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) from a strong-buy rating to an outperform rating in a research report released on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $450.00 price target on the specialty retailer’s stock, down from their prior price target of $500.00.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on ULTA. Oppenheimer reissued an outperform rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $438.00 to $412.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 24th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $425.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $565.00 to $475.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $436.83.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 4.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $352.84 on Friday. Ulta Beauty has a 52 week low of $318.17 and a 52 week high of $574.76. The company’s 50 day moving average is $372.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $425.38. The company has a market cap of $16.84 billion, a PE ratio of 13.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.37.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.47 by ($0.17). Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 54.91%. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.61 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.02 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty will post 23.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ulta Beauty

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 14.1% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 620,793 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $239,545,000 after buying an additional 76,721 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth about $263,192,000. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 47.7% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 476,027 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $246,862,000 after purchasing an additional 153,727 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 6.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 422,801 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $163,149,000 after purchasing an additional 24,822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.2% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 357,503 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $186,933,000 after purchasing an additional 4,344 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.