Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Upgraded to Buy at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $423.00 price target on the specialty retailer’s stock, up from their previous price target of $384.00.

ULTA has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com raised Ulta Beauty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. B. Riley decreased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $430.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $405.00 to $365.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $510.00 to $415.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $427.61.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Ulta Beauty stock opened at $373.91 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $17.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.34. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $371.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $386.33. Ulta Beauty has a 1 year low of $309.01 and a 1 year high of $528.80.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.13 by $1.33. The business had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.47 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $8.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ulta Beauty will post 23.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Ulta Beauty

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 28.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 166 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 199.5% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 4,646 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,021,000 after acquiring an additional 3,095 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 3,973 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,663,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 12,088 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,633 shares during the period. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth $348,000. 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.