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

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-four research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have issued a hold recommendation and eleven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $439.30.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $390.00 to $380.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. B. Riley upped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Ulta Beauty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 28th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Ulta Beauty from $385.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Choreo LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 71.7% in the second quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 2,868 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,198 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 2nd quarter valued at $19,136,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 2,778 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,072,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,330 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,409,000 after acquiring an additional 1,720 shares during the period. Finally, Distillate Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the second quarter valued at about $14,665,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock opened at $423.57 on Wednesday. Ulta Beauty has a twelve month low of $318.17 and a twelve month high of $574.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.64 billion, a PE ratio of 16.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $380.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $378.57.

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

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.