UBS Group Issues Positive Forecast for Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Stock Price

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) had its price target raised by analysts at UBS Group from $470.00 to $490.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the specialty retailer's stock. UBS Group's target price indicates a potential upside of 14.44% from the stock's current price.

ULTA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $435.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $442.00 to $476.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $435.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $390.00 to $380.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $442.46.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of ULTA stock traded up $35.30 on Friday, hitting $428.17. 3,414,562 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 980,766. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $373.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $376.39. Ulta Beauty has a one year low of $318.17 and a one year high of $574.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.32.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.69. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 54.02%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.07 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty will post 23.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CX Institutional raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 107.9% during the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 867 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Optimum Investment Advisors raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 95.2% during the 2nd quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 205 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 6,833 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,637,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 9,135 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $3,525,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the period. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 35.9% during the 2nd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 537 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $207,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is 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.

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