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

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-five analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have issued a hold recommendation and thirteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $427.61.

ULTA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $510.00 to $415.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $364.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. B. Riley lowered their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $430.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Ulta Beauty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $384.00 to $423.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Monday, March 10th.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 1.3 %

ULTA opened at $366.25 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.16. Ulta Beauty has a twelve month low of $309.01 and a twelve month high of $460.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $359.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $383.03.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $8.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty will post 23.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In related news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total transaction of $332,982.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,817,429.12. This trade represents a 10.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ULTA. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,199,935 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $520,587,000 after acquiring an additional 11,205 shares during the period. Capital World Investors bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at $430,674,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 655,561 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $285,123,000 after purchasing an additional 9,291 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 562,155 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $244,498,000 after purchasing an additional 72,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth about $239,432,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by 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.