Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Stock

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) had its target price boosted by Barclays from $410.00 to $445.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 6.40% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on ULTA. StockNews.com raised shares of Ulta Beauty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $472.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $457.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $460.30.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Ulta Beauty stock opened at $418.23 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $19.39 billion, a PE ratio of 16.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $402.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $384.05. Ulta Beauty has a 1-year low of $318.17 and a 1-year high of $574.76.

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

Institutional Trading of Ulta Beauty

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. Paladin Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 118.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 151.5% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the third quarter worth $41,000. Finally, American National Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the third quarter worth $44,000. Hedge funds and other 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.