Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Earns “Hold” Rating from Jefferies Financial Group

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA)‘s stock had its “hold” rating restated by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $438.00 target price on the specialty retailer’s stock, down from their prior target price of $585.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 3.03% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. UBS Group upped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $583.00 to $612.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, March 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $561.29.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock opened at $425.11 on Friday. Ulta Beauty has a 52 week low of $368.02 and a 52 week high of $574.76. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $514.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $467.55. The firm has a market cap of $20.52 billion, a PE ratio of 16.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.30.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.68 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ulta Beauty will post 26.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 14th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty retailer to reacquire up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total value of $1,629,325.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total transaction of $1,629,325.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total value of $263,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $876,222.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Prudential PLC purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the first quarter worth $425,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,886,434 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,344,096,000 after buying an additional 40,190 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 2.8% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,299 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,305,000 after buying an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 38.6% during the first quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,117 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $444,000 after buying an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 59.1% during the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.