Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Price Target Cut to $475.00 by Analysts at Oppenheimer

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) had its target price decreased by Oppenheimer from $500.00 to $475.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $656.00 to $635.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target 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. Barclays lowered shares of Ulta Beauty from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $612.00 to $434.00 in a report on Monday, April 29th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $665.00 to $595.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $546.86.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

ULTA opened at $393.67 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $479.71 and a 200 day moving average of $470.48. Ulta Beauty has a fifty-two week low of $368.02 and a fifty-two week high of $574.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.11, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.36.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.49 by $0.59. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 61.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.68 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty will post 26.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, March 14th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty retailer to buy up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Ulta Beauty

In related news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total transaction of $11,027,870.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,523,936.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Ulta Beauty news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total value of $11,027,870.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,523,936.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 6.5% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 60,243 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $31,426,000 after buying an additional 3,663 shares in the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the first quarter worth about $1,344,000. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 5.8% in the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 478 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 24.8% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 54,124 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,301,000 after acquiring an additional 10,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,225,000. 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.