Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) shares gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $382.77, but opened at $362.67. Ulta Beauty shares last traded at $373.29, with a volume of 322,027 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on ULTA shares. StockNews.com raised Ulta Beauty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 28th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $435.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $440.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $412.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $420.71.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 2.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $17.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.94, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $380.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $379.67.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.47 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.61 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 54.02% and a net margin of 10.68%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.02 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ULTA. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 610 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in Ulta Beauty by 3.4% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,269 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $664,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 7.1% in the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 711 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $372,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 3.0% in the first quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,843 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,009,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 35.0% in the 1st quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,098,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.