Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday morning.

ULTA has been the subject of a number of other reports. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $650.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $605.00 price objective (up previously from $580.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, August 29th. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Loop Capital restated a “hold” rating and issued a $510.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $544.20.

Ulta Beauty Trading Up 2.3%

ULTA stock opened at $552.00 on Friday. Ulta Beauty has a 12-month low of $309.01 and a 12-month high of $552.45. The business’s 50-day moving average is $519.00 and its 200 day moving average is $451.25. The stock has a market cap of $24.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.17, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.06.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $5.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.03 by $0.75. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.66 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 48.78% and a net margin of 10.31%.The business’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty will post 23.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.43, for a total transaction of $264,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,195,837.09. This trade represents a 18.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ulta Beauty

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ULTA. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 107.7% in the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 54 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 142.9% during the 2nd quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 218.5% in the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 86 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.