The Goldman Sachs Group Cuts Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Price Target to $476.00

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) had its price objective reduced by The Goldman Sachs Group from $605.00 to $476.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a hold rating and issued a $438.00 target price (down previously from $585.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $535.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group upped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Barclays cut Ulta Beauty from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $612.00 to $434.00 in a report on Monday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $539.55.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ULTA traded down $2.90 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $398.14. The stock had a trading volume of 121,814 shares, compared to its average volume of 748,285. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.09 billion, a PE ratio of 15.40, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $458.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $470.24. Ulta Beauty has a 52 week low of $368.02 and a 52 week high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.49 by $0.59. The firm 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.68 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Ulta Beauty will post 26.42 EPS for the current year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 14th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty retailer to repurchase up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,523,936.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief operating officer now 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,420,801.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,326. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ulta Beauty

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ULTA. Nvwm LLC boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $511,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 41.2% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 72 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 4.3% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 2,828 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,386,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nkcfo LLC boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Nkcfo LLC now owns 183 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. 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.