Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the twenty-five ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have issued a hold recommendation and thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $462.22.

A number of research firms recently commented on ULTA. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $465.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $520.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Ulta Beauty from $440.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $467.00 to $404.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $437.00 price objective (up previously from $386.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, May 30th.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Ulta Beauty stock opened at $458.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.09. Ulta Beauty has a fifty-two week low of $309.01 and a fifty-two week high of $491.98. The stock's fifty day moving average is $427.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $400.09.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The specialty retailer reported $6.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.73 by $0.97. The business had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 49.73% and a net margin of 10.45%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.47 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty will post 23.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total value of $332,982.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,632 shares in the company, valued at $2,817,429.12. This represents a 10.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 121.4% in the 4th quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 218.5% in the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 86 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, North Star Investment Management Corp. boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 71.4% in the 1st quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 96 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.