Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 637,677 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 33% from the previous session’s volume of 956,567 shares.The stock last traded at $361.49 and had previously closed at $369.49.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on ULTA shares. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $507.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $520.00 to $450.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. B. Riley began coverage on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $300.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $412.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $385.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $423.67.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 3.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $17.02 billion, a PE ratio of 14.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $371.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $388.66.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 1st quarter worth $176,753,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 87.3% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 337,882 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $130,380,000 after buying an additional 157,497 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 47.7% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 476,027 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $246,862,000 after buying an additional 153,727 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 33.6% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 544,072 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $284,484,000 after acquiring an additional 136,725 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 107.0% during the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 240,191 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $92,683,000 after acquiring an additional 124,164 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.