Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-four research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $420.71.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ULTA shares. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $390.00 to $380.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $550.00 to $505.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $365.17 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $380.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $379.67. The stock has a market cap of $17.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.65, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.33. Ulta Beauty has a 1-year low of $318.17 and a 1-year high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.02 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ulta Beauty will post 23.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc now owns 7,882 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,067,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the third quarter valued at $437,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 5.0% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 22,157 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $8,622,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 12.5% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 8,685 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,380,000 after purchasing an additional 968 shares during the period. Finally, Headinvest LLC grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 4,216 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,641,000 after buying an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.