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

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

ULTA has been the subject of a number of other reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Ulta Beauty from $656.00 to $635.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 15th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $580.00 to $520.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $485.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $556.52.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

NASDAQ ULTA opened at $406.39 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $500.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $468.88. The company has a market capitalization of $19.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.60, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.30. Ulta Beauty has a 1-year low of $368.02 and a 1-year high of $574.76.

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

Ulta Beauty announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 14th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty retailer to reacquire up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total value of $11,027,870.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at $5,523,936.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total transaction of $11,027,870.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at $5,523,936.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total transaction of $263,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $876,222.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ulta Beauty

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 347.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 71,491 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $35,061,000 after buying an additional 55,508 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,810,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 284,442 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $113,620,000 after purchasing an additional 2,126 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 27,037 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $13,248,000 after purchasing an additional 1,662 shares during the period. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.