Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Receives $548.05 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation, twelve have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $548.05.

ULTA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Ulta Beauty from $656.00 to $635.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $535.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $480.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total transaction of $263,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $876,222.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total transaction of $263,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $876,222.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total value of $11,027,870.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 364.3% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 65 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Vima LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 7,300.0% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 74 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company's stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Ulta Beauty stock traded down $5.20 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $404.84. The stock had a trading volume of 904,746 shares, compared to its average volume of 769,469. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $495.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $469.79. Ulta Beauty has a 1-year low of $368.02 and a 1-year high of $574.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.30.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $7.49 by $0.59. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 61.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.68 EPS. Ulta Beauty's revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty will post 26.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 14th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty retailer to repurchase up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.