Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday after TD Cowen raised their price target on the stock from $450.00 to $480.00. The stock had previously closed at $431.30, but opened at $450.02. TD Cowen currently has a hold rating on the stock. Ulta Beauty shares last traded at $445.54, with a volume of 449,700 shares traded.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on ULTA. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America upped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised Ulta Beauty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $538.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $458.78.

Institutional Trading of Ulta Beauty

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. Paladin Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 118.4% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 151.5% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, American National Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the third quarter worth $44,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 3.1 %

The firm has a market cap of $19.25 billion, a PE ratio of 16.61, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $400.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $383.64.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.69. The company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.07 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.57 earnings per share for the current 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.