Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Argus

Argus downgraded shares of Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays cut their target price on Ulta Beauty from $445.00 to $327.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Ulta Beauty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $384.00 to $423.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $400.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $405.00 to $365.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $467.00 to $404.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $427.61.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $349.59 on Monday. Ulta Beauty has a 52 week low of $309.01 and a 52 week high of $460.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $357.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $382.63. The firm has a market cap of $15.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.16.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.13 by $1.33. The company had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.47 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $8.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty will post 23.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In other news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total transaction of $332,982.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,632 shares in the company, valued at $2,817,429.12. This trade represents a 10.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ulta Beauty

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 14.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,635 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,193,000 after buying an additional 710 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 118.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 50.3% during the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 5,086 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,979,000 after acquiring an additional 1,702 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 151.5% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Diamant Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 2.1% in the third quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,920 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,136,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

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.