Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Raised to Hold at StockNews.com

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Raymond James downgraded Ulta Beauty from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Friday, August 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $530.00 to $544.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $550.00 to $505.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of Ulta Beauty from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $395.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $425.29.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of ULTA opened at $404.01 on Friday. Ulta Beauty has a one year low of $318.17 and a one year high of $574.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $368.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $404.91. The company has a market capitalization of $19.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.31.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.47 by ($0.17). Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 54.02%. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.61 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.02 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty will post 23.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $390.08, for a total value of $39,008.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,017 shares in the company, valued at $786,791.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ULTA. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 32.5% during the first quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 102 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 478 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 525 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $203,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 993 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $519,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,040 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $544,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.