Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Trading Down 1% After Analyst Downgrade

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) shares dropped 1% during mid-day trading on Thursday after TD Cowen lowered their price target on the stock from $395.00 to $390.00. TD Cowen currently has a hold rating on the stock. Ulta Beauty traded as low as $368.95 and last traded at $370.19. Approximately 152,162 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 951,648 shares. The stock had previously closed at $373.88.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on ULTA. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $356.00 target price (down previously from $404.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $525.00 to $485.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $552.00 to $448.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $435.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $522.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $425.08.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ULTA. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 83.3% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 66 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Vima LLC purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 490.0% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 59 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $17.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s 50-day moving average is $368.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $397.94.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.47 by ($0.17). Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 54.02%. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.02 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.21 EPS for the current year.

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.