Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $224.12, but opened at $232.06. Ulta Beauty shares last traded at $233.71, with a volume of 2,862,860 shares.
The specialty retailer reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.05. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 29.72% and a net margin of 8.84%. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year.
Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “hold” rating and issued a $325.00 price target (up from $305.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Tuesday, June 6th. Jefferies Group LLC upgraded Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $266.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Friday, June 2nd. Zacks Investment Research downgraded Ulta Beauty from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $300.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 31st. Finally, Guggenheim assumed coverage on Ulta Beauty in a research note on Tuesday, June 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Ulta Beauty currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $294.32.
In related news, Director Robert F. Diromualdo sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.05, for a total transaction of $6,181,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,457,788.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.36, for a total value of $156,180.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,126 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,288,797.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.
Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 3.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,738,059 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,648,774,000 after buying an additional 173,627 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 6.2% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,255,942 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,222,902,000 after buying an additional 247,992 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 9.1% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,468,332 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $709,251,000 after buying an additional 205,289 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 4.0% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,180,557 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $626,560,000 after buying an additional 83,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 1.1% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,567,313 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $447,047,000 after buying an additional 17,380 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.68% of the company’s stock.
The firm has a market cap of $13.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.82 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $249.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $277.02. Ulta Beauty also was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 23,425 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 769% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,696 put options.
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About Ulta Beauty
Ulta Beauty, Inc is a holding company for the Ulta Beauty group of companies. The Company is a beauty retailer. The Company offers cosmetics, fragrance, skin, hair care products and salon services. The Company offers approximately 20,000 products from over 500 beauty brands across all categories, including the Company’s own private label.
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