Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Earns Buy Rating from DA Davidson

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by analysts at DA Davidson in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $415.00 price target on the specialty retailer’s stock. DA Davidson’s price objective points to a potential upside of 16.00% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on ULTA. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $360.00 to $310.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $538.00 to $526.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $364.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $427.61.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of ULTA opened at $357.75 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.21 billion, a PE ratio of 14.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $357.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $382.41. Ulta Beauty has a 1 year low of $309.01 and a 1 year high of $460.00.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $8.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ulta Beauty will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In other news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at $2,817,429.12. This represents a 10.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

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

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.