Ulta Beauty Inc (NASDAQ:ULTA) – Equities research analysts at Piper Jaffray Companies dropped their Q4 2020 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Ulta Beauty in a research note issued on Thursday, December 5th, according to Zacks Investment Research. Piper Jaffray Companies analyst E. Murphy now forecasts that the specialty retailer will post earnings of $3.66 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $3.69. Piper Jaffray Companies has a “Neutral” rating and a $228.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Jaffray Companies also issued estimates for Ulta Beauty’s Q4 2021 earnings at $4.06 EPS, Q1 2022 earnings at $3.61 EPS, Q2 2022 earnings at $3.35 EPS and Q3 2022 earnings at $2.78 EPS.
Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 9.67% and a return on equity of 36.91%. Ulta Beauty’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.18 EPS.
Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim dropped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. TheStreet cut shares of Ulta Beauty from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $317.00 to $326.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $310.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Ulta Beauty currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $286.57.
NASDAQ:ULTA traded up $1.79 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $253.14. 773,817 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,519,753. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.33, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.11. Ulta Beauty has a 52-week low of $222.00 and a 52-week high of $368.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $245.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $281.42.
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ULTA. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 3,169.3% in the 2nd quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,147,792 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $398,158,000 after purchasing an additional 1,112,684 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 46.1% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,532,011 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $531,439,000 after purchasing an additional 483,342 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 3rd quarter valued at $94,563,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 13.5% in the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,774,253 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $615,471,000 after purchasing an additional 210,475 shares during the period. Finally, BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,166,032 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,445,154,000 after purchasing an additional 207,927 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.
In related news, insider Jeffrey J. Childs sold 3,031 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.20, for a total value of $764,418.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,605,982.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.
About Ulta Beauty
Ulta Beauty, Inc operates as a beauty retailer in the United States. The company’s stores offer cosmetics, fragrances, skincare and haircare products, bath and body products, and salon styling tools; salon services, including hair, skin, makeup, and brow services; and others, including nail products and accessories.