Oppenheimer Cuts Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Price Target to $475.00

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

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. Barclays lowered Ulta Beauty from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and cut their price target for the stock from $612.00 to $434.00 in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an outperform rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Loop Capital raised Ulta Beauty from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $540.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a hold rating and set a $438.00 price target (down previously from $585.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, April 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $546.86.

Ulta Beauty Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of ULTA stock opened at $399.15 on Tuesday. Ulta Beauty has a 12 month low of $368.02 and a 12 month high of $574.76. The company has a market cap of $19.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.23, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $476.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $469.91.

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

Ulta Beauty announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 14th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty retailer to purchase up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In other news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was 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 owns 10,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,523,936.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were 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 owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,420,801.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,326. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 364.3% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 65 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Vima LLC acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 7,300.0% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 74 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 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.