Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-seven brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have issued a hold recommendation, thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $549.3333.

Several brokerages have weighed in on ULTA. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $510.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $525.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Ulta Beauty stock opened at $542.93 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $24.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.08. Ulta Beauty has a fifty-two week low of $309.01 and a fifty-two week high of $572.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $528.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $466.50.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $5.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.03 by $0.75. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 48.78% and a net margin of 10.31%.The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.30 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Ulta Beauty will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.43, for a total value of $264,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,195,837.09. This trade represents a 18.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ulta Beauty

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ULTA. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 128.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,225,023 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $449,021,000 after purchasing an additional 688,267 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 64.8% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 931,557 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $341,453,000 after purchasing an additional 366,147 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 81.7% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 913,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $334,871,000 after buying an additional 410,900 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 813,639 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $298,231,000 after buying an additional 79,666 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 654,598 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $306,234,000 after buying an additional 56,063 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.