Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-seven brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have issued a hold recommendation, thirteen have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $550.3750.

Several brokerages recently commented on ULTA. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Argus raised shares of Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $570.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $595.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $519.88 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $531.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $481.88. The firm has a market cap of $23.31 billion, a PE ratio of 19.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.08. Ulta Beauty has a 1-year low of $309.01 and a 1-year high of $572.23.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $5.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.03 by $0.75. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.31% and a return on equity of 48.78%. The company’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.30 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ulta Beauty will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.43, for a total transaction of $264,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,263 shares in the company, valued at $1,195,837.09. The trade was a 18.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ULTA. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Ulta Beauty by 17.9% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,092 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,190,000 after buying an additional 924 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in Ulta Beauty by 0.4% during the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 9,723 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,564,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 2.2% in the first quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,397 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 2.7% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 5,964 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,186,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 70.9% in the first quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 834 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.