Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $314.47, but opened at $342.20. Ulta Beauty shares last traded at $343.38, with a volume of 849,394 shares changing hands.

The specialty retailer reported $8.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.13 by $1.33. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $8.08 earnings per share. Ulta Beauty’s revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ULTA shares. William Blair lowered shares of Ulta Beauty from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $400.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $445.00 to $327.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $431.13.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,565,000. Berkeley Inc grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 75.8% during the fourth quarter. Berkeley Inc now owns 10,440 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,541,000 after purchasing an additional 4,501 shares during the last quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1,015.9% during the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 11,851 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,154,000 after purchasing an additional 10,789 shares during the last quarter. GHE LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. GHE LLC now owns 4,076 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,773,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $123,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $16.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $385.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $386.69.

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.