StockNews.com Upgrades Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) to Hold

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $470.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $426.00 to $424.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $440.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. B. Riley upgraded Ulta Beauty from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $330.00 to $430.00 in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $457.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $458.78.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 3.1 %

ULTA stock opened at $415.14 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $400.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $383.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.25 billion, a PE ratio of 16.61, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.28. Ulta Beauty has a twelve month low of $318.17 and a twelve month 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. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 51.95% and a net margin of 10.58%. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.07 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty will post 23.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 180,713.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,238,569 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $481,952,000 after buying an additional 1,237,884 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 3rd quarter worth about $359,480,000. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 335,914 shares during the period. Atreides Management LP bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the third quarter worth about $73,069,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 87.3% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 337,882 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $130,380,000 after purchasing an additional 157,497 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

About Ulta Beauty

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.