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

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Argus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Finviz reports.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $538.00 to $526.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $400.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Ulta Beauty from $467.00 to $404.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $427.61.

Ulta Beauty Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of ULTA stock opened at $361.46 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $360.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $383.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.16. Ulta Beauty has a 1 year low of $309.01 and a 1 year high of $460.00.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In related news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of Ulta Beauty 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 sale, the insider now owns 7,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,817,429.12. The trade was a 10.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ULTA. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 166 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 199.5% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 4,646 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,021,000 after acquiring an additional 3,095 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 3,973 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,663,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the period. Buckhead Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 12,088 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $5,257,000 after acquiring an additional 1,633 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter valued at about $348,000. 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.