Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty-four research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $439.30.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ULTA. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $357.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $470.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Ulta Beauty from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Ulta Beauty from $435.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Loop Capital upped 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, December 9th.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of ULTA stock opened at $431.35 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $20.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.26, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $397.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $382.73. Ulta Beauty has a fifty-two week low of $318.17 and a fifty-two week high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.69. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.07 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty will post 23.57 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ulta Beauty

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Choreo LLC increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 71.7% during the second quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 2,868 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,198 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the second quarter valued at approximately $19,136,000. Jensen Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,330 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,409,000 after buying an additional 1,720 shares in the last quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the second quarter worth about $14,665,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty during the third quarter valued at approximately $793,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.