Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) shares gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday after StockNews.com upgraded the stock from a sell rating to a hold rating. The stock had previously closed at $431.30, but opened at $450.02. Ulta Beauty shares last traded at $445.54, with a volume of 449,700 shares trading hands.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $470.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $440.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $472.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $435.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $454.43.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 16.6% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,392 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $7,065,000 after acquiring an additional 2,619 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 65.9% during the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 10,022 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,867,000 after buying an additional 3,982 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the second quarter valued at about $525,000. Caprock Group LLC increased its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 4,328 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,670,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, First Foundation Advisors raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 45.9% in the 2nd quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 162 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 0.7 %

The company has a market capitalization of $19.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.14, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $399.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $383.42.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced 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 business had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.07 EPS. Ulta Beauty’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.57 earnings per share 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.