Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Gap Down - Here's Why

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ULTA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $356.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Ulta Beauty from $507.00 to $435.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Ulta Beauty from $390.00 to $380.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $420.71.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 4.6 %

The business's 50-day simple moving average is $380.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $379.67. The firm has a market cap of $17.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.33.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.47 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion for 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 company's quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.02 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 83.3% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 66 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the second quarter worth $32,000. Paladin Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the first quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company's stock.

About Ulta Beauty

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.