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

Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $382.77, but opened at $362.67. Ulta Beauty shares last traded at $373.29, with a volume of 322,027 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ULTA has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com raised Ulta Beauty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 28th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $520.00 to $450.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $426.00 to $424.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $420.71.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 4.6 %

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $380.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $379.36. The company has a market capitalization of $17.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.33.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its 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). The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.61 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 54.02% and a net margin of 10.68%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.02 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 180,713.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,238,569 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $481,952,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237,884 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 3rd quarter valued at about $359,480,000. Holocene Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 3,246.2% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 346,262 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $134,737,000 after buying an additional 335,914 shares during the period. Atreides Management LP acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $73,069,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 87.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 337,882 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $130,380,000 after acquiring an additional 157,497 shares in 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.