Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Reaches New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $610.00 to $685.00. Bank of America currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Ulta Beauty traded as high as $658.20 and last traded at $655.36, with a volume of 666367 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $650.06.

ULTA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $680.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ulta Beauty from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Oppenheimer set a $675.00 price objective on Ulta Beauty in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $615.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $597.24.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the third quarter worth $25,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 107.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 54 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Ulta Beauty in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, BOKF NA bought a new position in Ulta Beauty in the third quarter worth about $31,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 1.3%

The company has a market capitalization of $29.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $569.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $533.90.

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

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.