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

Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-four analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have assigned a hold recommendation and eleven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $439.30.

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James decreased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $440.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $426.00 to $424.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com lowered Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $431.35 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $20.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.28. Ulta Beauty has a one year low of $318.17 and a one year high of $574.76. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $397.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $382.73.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.07 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty will post 23.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 627 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.8% in the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,826 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $705,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 3.0% in the second quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,221 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $471,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Trust Investment Advisors grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 2.5% in the second quarter. Trust Investment Advisors now owns 1,491 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $575,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 39.6% during the 3rd quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 141 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is 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.