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

Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-five analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have given a hold recommendation and thirteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $460.91.

A number of research firms have weighed in on ULTA. Citigroup upped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $477.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $460.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $315.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $465.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total value of $332,982.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,632 shares in the company, valued at $2,817,429.12. This represents a 10.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ulta Beauty

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ULTA. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 166 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 199.5% in 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 last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 3,973 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,663,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 12,088 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $5,257,000 after acquiring an additional 1,633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter worth $311,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

ULTA opened at $473.11 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.06. Ulta Beauty has a 1-year low of $309.01 and a 1-year high of $491.98. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $388.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $389.42.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The specialty retailer reported $6.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.73 by $0.97. The firm had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 51.95% and a net margin of 10.58%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.47 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Ulta Beauty will post 23.96 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.