Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ:URBN) shares gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $55.01, but opened at $57.45. Urban Outfitters shares last traded at $58.87, with a volume of 238,946 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on URBN shares. Citigroup upgraded Urban Outfitters from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Urban Outfitters from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $41.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Urban Outfitters from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Urban Outfitters from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Urban Outfitters from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Urban Outfitters currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.64.

Urban Outfitters Stock Up 9.8 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a PE ratio of 17.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.55. The business’s fifty day moving average is $50.43 and its 200-day moving average is $43.15.

Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 26th. The apparel retailer reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.25. Urban Outfitters had a net margin of 6.11% and a return on equity of 15.86%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Urban Outfitters, Inc. will post 3.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Harry S. Cherken, Jr. sold 55,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.31, for a total value of $3,152,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 510,296 shares in the company, valued at $29,245,063.76. This represents a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 31.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Urban Outfitters

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Urban Outfitters in the fourth quarter worth $219,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Urban Outfitters by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 225,200 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $12,359,000 after purchasing an additional 14,400 shares during the period. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Urban Outfitters in the fourth quarter valued at about $765,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Urban Outfitters by 17,631.2% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 35,817 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,966,000 after buying an additional 35,615 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Urban Outfitters by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 18,765 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,030,000 after purchasing an additional 1,801 shares during the last quarter. 77.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Urban Outfitters Company Profile

Urban Outfitters, Inc engages in the retail and wholesale of general consumer products. The company operates through three segments: Retail, Wholesale, and Nuuly. It operates Urban Outfitters stores, which offer women's and men's fashion apparel, activewear, intimates, footwear, accessories, home goods, electronics, and beauty products for young adults aged 18 to 28; and Anthropologie stores that provide women's apparel, accessories, intimates, shoes, and home furnishings, as well as gifts, decorative items, and beauty and wellness products for women aged 28 to 45.