Insider Selling: Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) CEO Sells 2,000 Shares of Stock

Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) CEO Kecia Steelman sold 2,000 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.88, for a total value of $1,091,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,489 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,102,135.32. The trade was a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Ulta Beauty Trading Up 3.1%

Ulta Beauty stock traded up $16.88 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $557.86. The stock had a trading volume of 507,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 695,130. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $522.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $519.06. The company has a market capitalization of $23.85 billion, a PE ratio of 20.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.85. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 52-week low of $443.60 and a 52-week high of $714.97.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $6.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.22 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 9.34% and a return on equity of 45.40%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.78 earnings per share. Ulta Beauty has set its FY 2026 guidance at 28.700-29.000 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 28.94 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 stock. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 34.6% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 17,553 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $7,916,000 after purchasing an additional 4,513 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 14,868 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,705,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,540 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,655,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 1,798 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $811,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the 2nd quarter valued at $11,855,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ULTA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $692.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Evercore set a $635.00 target price on Ulta Beauty in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Ulta Beauty in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $580.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Monday, August 31st. Twenty-four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $627.83.

Ulta Beauty Company Profile

Ulta Beauty, Inc is a specialty beauty retailer operating under the Ulta Beauty brand. The company sells a broad selection of cosmetics, skincare, haircare, fragrance, bath and body products, and beauty tools across a range of price points. Its merchandise includes both established brands and private-label products, as well as prestige, mass-market and professional beauty offerings.

In addition to retail sales, Ulta Beauty provides services through salon locations within many of its stores, including hair, skin and brow services.