Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Updates FY25 Earnings Guidance

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) issued an update on its FY25 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $26.20-27.00 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.85. The company issued revenue guidance of $11.7-11.8 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $11.78 billion.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

NASDAQ ULTA opened at $444.75 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.47 billion, a PE ratio of 17.07, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.30. Ulta Beauty has a 1 year low of $368.02 and a 1 year high of $574.76. The business’s 50-day moving average is $526.20 and its 200 day moving average is $465.11.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.49 by $0.59. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 61.64%. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.68 earnings per share. Ulta Beauty’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty will post 26.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, March 14th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty retailer to purchase up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ULTA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $583.00 to $612.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $635.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $485.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $575.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total transaction of $1,629,325.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total transaction of $263,130.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $876,222.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total transaction of $1,629,325.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at $1,420,801.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Prudential PLC bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the first quarter valued at approximately $425,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,886,434 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,344,096,000 after purchasing an additional 40,190 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 2.8% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,299 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,305,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 38.6% during the first quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,117 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 59.1% during the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Ulta Beauty

Ulta Beauty, Inc operate specialty retail stores selling cosmetics, fragrance, haircare and skincare products, and related accessories and services in the United States. It offers broad assortment of branded and private label beauty products including cosmetics, fragrance, haircare, skincare, bath and body products, professional hair products, and salon styling tools; and salon services, including hair, skin, makeup, and brow services, as well as nail services.