Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Hits New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Ulta Beauty's stock hit a new 52-week high of $539.00 following an upgrade from Barclays, which raised its price target from $589.00 to $617.00 and maintains an overweight rating on the stock.
• Thirteen analysts have given Ulta Beauty a "Buy" rating, while thirteen others rated it as a "Hold," indicating strong confidence in the stock's potential.
• Ulta Beauty recently reported **earnings per share (EPS) of $5.78**, significantly exceeding the consensus estimate of $5.03, alongside a 9.3% year-over-year revenue increase to **$2.79 billion**.

Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $589.00 to $617.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Ulta Beauty traded as high as $539.00 and last traded at $533.79, with a volume of 261937 shares. The stock had previously closed at $532.52.

ULTA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Loop Capital restated a "hold" rating and set a $510.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ulta Beauty from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $536.75.

Institutional Trading of Ulta Beauty

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 107.7% in the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 54 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Hemington Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 142.9% in the 2nd quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company's stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $500.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $429.22. The company has a market cap of $23.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.06.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $5.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.03 by $0.75. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 48.78% and a net margin of 10.31%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.30 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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