Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Short Interest Down 13.6% in February

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,360,000 shares, a decrease of 13.6% from the February 13th total of 2,730,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 949,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days. Currently, 5.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

ULTA stock opened at $340.89 on Friday. Ulta Beauty has a fifty-two week low of $309.01 and a fifty-two week high of $531.11. The business’s 50-day moving average is $378.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $386.19. The company has a market cap of $15.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.34.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.13 by $1.33. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 51.95% and a net margin of 10.58%. The company had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $8.08 earnings per share. Ulta Beauty’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Ulta Beauty will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on ULTA. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $470.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $467.00 to $404.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Loop Capital increased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $364.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $427.13.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ULTA. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 121.4% in the fourth quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 118.4% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 151.5% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. 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.