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

Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Hold" from the twenty-four ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $439.30.

ULTA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $426.00 to $424.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Ulta Beauty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 28th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $380.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $335.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 180,713.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,238,569 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $481,952,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237,884 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 0.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,188,730 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $461,059,000 after purchasing an additional 10,153 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the third quarter worth about $359,480,000. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 14.1% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 620,793 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $239,545,000 after purchasing an additional 76,721 shares during the period. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 5.4% in the third quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 610,400 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $237,519,000 after purchasing an additional 31,540 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA traded up $18.17 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $430.09. 1,351,305 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 985,440. The company's 50-day moving average is $375.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $377.13. Ulta Beauty has a 1 year low of $318.17 and a 1 year high of $574.76. The company has a market capitalization of $19.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.22, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.33.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.69. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The business's revenue 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. Equities analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty will post 23.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.