Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Stock Price

Key Points

• Wells Fargo & Company raised its price target for Ulta Beauty from $350 to $400, while maintaining an "underweight" rating, indicating a potential downside of 23.98% from the current price.
• Other analysts have set their price targets higher, with Canaccord Genuity raising theirs to $600, suggesting a mixed sentiment around the stock with a consensus rating of "Hold."
• Ulta Beauty reported a better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $6.70 per share, surpassing estimates, while also showing a year-over-year revenue growth of 4.5% to $2.85 billion.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) had its price objective increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $350.00 to $400.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an underweight rating on the specialty retailer's stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on ULTA. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $460.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $520.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $364.00 to $386.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $510.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $465.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $475.17.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 1.0%

NASDAQ ULTA traded down $5.18 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $521.00. 495,402 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 578,761. Ulta Beauty has a 12 month low of $309.01 and a 12 month high of $534.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.42 billion, a PE ratio of 20.35, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50 day moving average of $488.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $418.47.

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. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 49.73%. The firm had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.47 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hemington Wealth Management grew 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 purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.