Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Given New $500.00 Price Target at Telsey Advisory Group

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) had its price target cut by research analysts at Telsey Advisory Group from $600.00 to $500.00 in a research note issued on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. Telsey Advisory Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 32.93% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $438.00 target price (down from $585.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, April 19th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $656.00 to $635.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $535.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $530.91.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $376.14 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $441.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $470.38. Ulta Beauty has a one year low of $368.02 and a one year high of $574.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.44, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.36.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 EPS 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 net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 61.64%. The business’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.68 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty will post 26.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ulta Beauty news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Ulta Beauty news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total transaction of $263,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at $876,222.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ulta Beauty

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ULTA. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Vima LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 490.0% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 59 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently 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.