Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Friday morning.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. William Blair cut Ulta Beauty from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $385.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $442.00 to $476.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $439.30.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $430.01 on Friday. Ulta Beauty has a one year low of $318.17 and a one year high of $574.76. The company has a market cap of $19.94 billion, a PE ratio of 17.21, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $384.31 and a 200-day moving average of $379.37.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.69. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 51.95% and a net margin of 10.58%. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.07 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty will post 23.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Ulta Beauty

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 5.0% in the second quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 54,189 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $20,910,000 after buying an additional 2,581 shares in the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC lifted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 803 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 16.6% in the 2nd quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 1,718 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $663,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 20,894 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $8,062,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 3.6% in the second quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 3,656 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,411,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. 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.