Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-four analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $460.30.

ULTA has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $470.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised Ulta Beauty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays raised their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

ULTA stock opened at $415.14 on Friday. Ulta Beauty has a 1 year low of $318.17 and a 1 year high of $574.76. The company has a market cap of $19.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $401.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $383.86.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.69. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 51.95% and a net margin of 10.58%. Ulta Beauty’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.07 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Ulta Beauty will post 23.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ulta Beauty

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Paladin Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 118.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 151.5% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $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 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, American National Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the third quarter worth $44,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.