Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-four brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $425.08.

ULTA has been the topic of several research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on Ulta Beauty from $522.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Ulta Beauty from $507.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $435.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Barclays increased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $328.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $430.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 26th.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of ULTA stock opened at $372.72 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $368.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $398.98. Ulta Beauty has a 1-year low of $318.17 and a 1-year high of $574.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.56 billion, a PE ratio of 14.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.31.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.47 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.61 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 54.02%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.02 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty will post 23.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 14.1% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 620,793 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $239,545,000 after purchasing an additional 76,721 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 47.7% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 476,027 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $246,862,000 after purchasing an additional 153,727 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 422,801 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $163,149,000 after purchasing an additional 24,822 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 357,503 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $186,933,000 after purchasing an additional 4,344 shares during the period. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 26.4% in the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 356,128 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $137,419,000 after purchasing an additional 74,319 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.