Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $401.60, but opened at $390.00. Ulta Beauty shares last traded at $395.28, with a volume of 555,738 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $470.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $390.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their target price on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $440.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $459.22.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 5.4 %

The company has a market capitalization of $17.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $418.04 and a 200 day moving average of $386.34.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.69. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 51.95% and a net margin of 10.58%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.07 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ULTA. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 665 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 4.7% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 627 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 6,623 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,881,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,576 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $685,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Creek Financial Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 832 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.