The Goldman Sachs Group Upgrades Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) to Buy

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) was upgraded by equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $423.00 target price on the specialty retailer’s stock, up from their prior target price of $384.00. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 10.59% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Ulta Beauty from $480.00 to $475.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $467.00 to $404.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $364.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $427.61.

Ulta Beauty Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA opened at $382.51 on Tuesday. Ulta Beauty has a 1-year low of $309.01 and a 1-year high of $474.12. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $371.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $386.30. The firm has a market cap of $17.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.34.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.13 by $1.33. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The company had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $8.08 EPS. Ulta Beauty’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty will post 23.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total value of $332,982.32. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,817,429.12. This represents a 10.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 166 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 199.5% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 4,646 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,021,000 after acquiring an additional 3,095 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 3,973 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,663,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 12,088 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth $348,000. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

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.