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

Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty-four ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $459.22.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ULTA shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $430.00 to $500.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $426.00 to $424.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $435.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $390.00 to $394.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $457.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 0.6 %

Ulta Beauty stock opened at $410.66 on Thursday. Ulta Beauty has a 12-month low of $318.17 and a 12-month high of $574.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $410.50 and a 200 day moving average of $385.57.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 prior year, the company posted $5.07 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Ulta Beauty will post 23.96 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ulta Beauty

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ULTA. Louisbourg Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 102.6% during the fourth quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. now owns 5,647 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,456,000 after purchasing an additional 2,860 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 42.0% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 7,762 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,331,000 after buying an additional 2,294 shares during the period. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in Ulta Beauty by 44.5% in the 4th quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,624 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $706,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 4,259 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,852,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI now owns 4,340 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,888,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.