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

Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-four brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $425.29.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $356.00 target price (down previously from $404.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $435.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 report on Friday, August 30th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Ulta Beauty from $525.00 to $485.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Raymond James downgraded Ulta Beauty from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $500.00 to $450.00 in a report on Friday, August 30th.

Institutional Trading of Ulta Beauty

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $367,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 191.2% in the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 198 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the second quarter worth $8,759,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 90.9% during the second quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 168 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 6.0% in the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,055 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock opened at $379.13 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $368.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $399.34. Ulta Beauty has a fifty-two week low of $318.17 and a fifty-two week high of $574.76. The firm has a market cap of $17.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.31.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.61 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.02 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ulta Beauty will post 23.21 EPS 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.