Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $366.54, but opened at $377.00. Ulta Beauty shares last traded at $369.60, with a volume of 107,149 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $470.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $467.00 to $404.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $538.00 to $526.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $364.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $405.00 to $365.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $427.61.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 1.8 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $17.31 billion, a PE ratio of 14.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.34. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $372.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $386.36.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.13 by $1.33. The company had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.47 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 51.95% and a net margin of 10.58%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $8.08 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Ulta Beauty

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. Capital World Investors purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $430,674,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter valued at $239,432,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 10,336.7% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 459,110 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $199,681,000 after purchasing an additional 454,711 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 3,246.2% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 346,262 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $134,737,000 after buying an additional 335,914 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atreides Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the third quarter worth about $73,069,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

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.