Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $612.75 and last traded at $610.32, with a volume of 335536 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $597.88.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on ULTA. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Cowen raised shares of Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $700.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $576.50.

Ulta Beauty Trading Up 0.7%

The firm has a market cap of $26.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.87. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $544.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $521.04.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.61 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 9.93% and a return on equity of 46.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.14 earnings per share. Ulta Beauty has set its FY 2025 guidance at 25.200-25.500 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State of Wyoming grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 10.5% during the third quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 211 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,165 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $545,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 459 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Hardy Reed LLC increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 767 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $419,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 3.9% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 587 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $321,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

About Ulta Beauty

Ulta Beauty, Inc (NASDAQ: ULTA) is a U.S.-based specialty retailer and beauty services provider focused on cosmetics, fragrance, skin care, hair care, bath and body, and beauty tools. The company operates a dual-format business that combines brick-and-mortar retail stores with an e-commerce platform, offering a broad assortment of national, prestige and mass-market brands alongside its own private-label products. In many locations Ulta also provides full-service salon treatments, positioning the company as a one-stop destination for product discovery and in-store services.

The retailer’s product mix spans color cosmetics, haircare and styling products, skin and body care, fragrance, and accessories, catering to a wide range of consumer preferences and price points.