Barclays Boosts Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Price Target to $445.00

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) had its price objective lifted by Barclays from $410.00 to $445.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the specialty retailer's stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on ULTA. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $470.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $435.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $460.30.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of ULTA stock traded down $13.13 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $415.14. 776,901 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 906,652. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $401.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $383.86. Ulta Beauty has a 12-month low of $318.17 and a 12-month high of $574.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.28.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.69. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 51.95% and a net margin of 10.58%. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.07 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty will post 23.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Choreo LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 71.7% during the second quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 2,868 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,103,000 after buying an additional 1,198 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $19,136,000. Jensen Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Ulta Beauty by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,330 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $4,409,000 after acquiring an additional 1,720 shares during the period. Distillate Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 2nd quarter valued at $14,665,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 3rd quarter worth $793,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company's stock.

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.