Morgan Stanley Cuts Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Price Target to $460.00

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) had its price target decreased by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $500.00 to $460.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential upside of 28.68% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $470.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $364.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. William Blair downgraded Ulta Beauty from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. B. Riley raised Ulta Beauty from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $330.00 to $430.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Monday, March 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $431.13.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $357.48 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $16.58 billion, a PE ratio of 14.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.34. Ulta Beauty has a fifty-two week low of $309.01 and a fifty-two week high of $544.36. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $385.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $386.80.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.13 by $1.33. The company had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.47 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 51.95% and a net margin of 10.58%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $8.08 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Ulta Beauty will post 23.96 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital World Investors acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter worth about $430,674,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 3rd quarter valued at $359,480,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter valued at $239,432,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 10,336.7% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 459,110 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $199,681,000 after purchasing an additional 454,711 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 3,246.2% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 346,262 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $134,737,000 after purchasing an additional 335,914 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

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.