Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Price Target Cut to $520.00 by Analysts at TD Cowen

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) had its price objective trimmed by TD Cowen from $580.00 to $520.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $656.00 to $635.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $480.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $665.00 to $595.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $630.00 to $610.00 and set a strong-buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $568.29.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 0.1 %

ULTA opened at $425.11 on Thursday. Ulta Beauty has a 12 month low of $368.02 and a 12 month high of $574.76. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $514.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $467.55. The stock has a market cap of $20.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.30.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.49 by $0.59. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 61.64%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.68 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty will post 26.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, March 14th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty retailer to purchase up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In related news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total value of $263,130.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $876,222.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total transaction of $11,027,870.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at $5,523,936.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,886,434 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,344,096,000 after acquiring an additional 40,190 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,997,828 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,090,149,000 after acquiring an additional 27,840 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,580,071 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $774,220,000 after acquiring an additional 6,094 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 56.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,538,533 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $614,568,000 after acquiring an additional 556,809 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,100,246 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $599,089,000 after acquiring an additional 19,467 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.