Wells Fargo & Company Trims Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Target Price to $350.00

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) had its target price decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $450.00 to $350.00 in a research report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an underweight rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

ULTA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $580.00 to $520.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $485.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a hold rating and issued a $438.00 price target (down from $585.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $556.52.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Ulta Beauty stock opened at $406.39 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $500.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $19.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.60, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.30. Ulta Beauty has a fifty-two week low of $368.02 and a fifty-two week high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.49 by $0.59. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 61.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty will post 26.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 14th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty retailer to reacquire up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total value of $1,629,325.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total value of $1,629,325.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total transaction of $11,027,870.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nvwm LLC raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $511,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 41.2% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 72 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 4.3% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 2,828 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,386,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, Nkcfo LLC raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Nkcfo LLC now owns 183 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.