Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Up 1.6%

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) shares traded up 1.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $405.40 and last traded at $403.30. 304,266 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 934,686 shares. The stock had previously closed at $397.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ULTA shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $385.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $438.00 to $412.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Ulta Beauty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays raised their target price on Ulta Beauty from $328.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $507.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $425.29.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $19.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.73, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a 50-day moving average of $368.05 and a 200-day moving average of $410.05.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $390.08, for a total value of $39,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $786,791.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 650 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $388.68, for a total value of $252,642.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,643,412.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $390.08, for a total value of $39,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $786,791.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Choreo LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 71.7% in the 2nd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 2,868 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,198 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 120.2% during the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 14,448 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $7,079,000 after buying an additional 7,887 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP grew its stake in Ulta Beauty by 92.8% during the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 7,278 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,806,000 after buying an additional 3,504 shares during the period. Broad Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter worth $10,412,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 89,799 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $46,954,000 after acquiring an additional 8,337 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is currently 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.