Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

ULTA has been the topic of several other reports. Robert W. Baird set a $700.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $653.00 to $674.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $600.00 to $606.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Cowen upgraded Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $576.50.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

ULTA stock opened at $605.01 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $553.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $526.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.20, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.85. Ulta Beauty has a fifty-two week low of $309.01 and a fifty-two week high of $616.34.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.61 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 46.33% and a net margin of 9.93%.Ulta Beauty’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.14 earnings per share. Ulta Beauty has set its FY 2025 guidance at 25.200-25.500 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty will post 23.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,353,414 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,926,979,000 after buying an additional 33,674 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,975,260 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,079,973,000 after acquiring an additional 44,182 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 8.9% in the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 1,263,820 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $690,994,000 after acquiring an additional 103,540 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 33.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 840,383 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $459,479,000 after acquiring an additional 211,485 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 9.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 654,598 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $306,234,000 after purchasing an additional 56,063 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Company Profile

Ulta Beauty, Inc (NASDAQ: ULTA) is a U.S.-based specialty retailer and beauty services provider focused on cosmetics, fragrance, skin care, hair care, bath and body, and beauty tools. The company operates a dual-format business that combines brick-and-mortar retail stores with an e-commerce platform, offering a broad assortment of national, prestige and mass-market brands alongside its own private-label products. In many locations Ulta also provides full-service salon treatments, positioning the company as a one-stop destination for product discovery and in-store services.

The retailer’s product mix spans color cosmetics, haircare and styling products, skin and body care, fragrance, and accessories, catering to a wide range of consumer preferences and price points.