Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-four research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have issued a hold recommendation and eleven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $439.30.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ULTA shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $435.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $430.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $390.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

ULTA opened at $411.92 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.10 billion, a PE ratio of 16.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $374.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $376.92. Ulta Beauty has a 1 year low of $318.17 and a 1 year high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.69. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.07 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty will post 23.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 180,713.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,238,569 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $481,952,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237,884 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,188,730 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $461,059,000 after purchasing an additional 10,153 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 3rd quarter valued at $359,480,000. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 14.1% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 620,793 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $239,545,000 after buying an additional 76,721 shares during the period. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 5.4% during the third quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 610,400 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $237,519,000 after buying an additional 31,540 shares during the last quarter. 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.