Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Price Target Raised to $550.00

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) had its target price hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $460.00 to $550.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the specialty retailer's stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on ULTA. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $400.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $460.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $315.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday. B. Riley reduced their price target on Ulta Beauty from $430.00 to $330.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $440.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $460.91.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:ULTA traded up $4.21 during trading on Friday, reaching $475.67. 1,312,855 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,052,973. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.48 billion, a PE ratio of 19.03, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.06. The company's 50 day moving average is $384.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $388.06. Ulta Beauty has a 52 week low of $309.01 and a 52 week high of $491.98.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The specialty retailer reported $6.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.73 by $0.97. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The firm had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.47 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty will post 23.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total transaction of $332,982.32. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,817,429.12. The trade was a 10.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 28.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 166 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 199.5% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 4,646 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,021,000 after acquiring an additional 3,095 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 3,973 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,663,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Buckhead Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 12,088 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $5,257,000 after acquiring an additional 1,633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coerente Capital Management raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Coerente Capital Management now owns 36,864 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $16,033,000 after purchasing an additional 5,830 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.