Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) shares 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 trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $522.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Ulta Beauty from $525.00 to $485.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $472.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group reduced their target price on Ulta Beauty from $550.00 to $505.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, B. Riley started coverage on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $300.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $420.71.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 4.6 %

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $380.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $379.36. The company has a market cap 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.47 by ($0.17). Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 54.02%. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.02 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sage Capital Advisors llc increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 525 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $203,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 4.7% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 627 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 83.3% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 66 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 5.0% in the second quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 695 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 3,495 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,349,000 after purchasing an additional 33 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.