Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Receives "Outperform" Rating from Telsey Advisory Group

Key Points

• Telsey Advisory Group has reaffirmed its "outperform" rating for Ulta Beauty, with a price target of $610.00, indicating a potential upside of 13.53% from the stock's previous close.
• Ulta Beauty reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $5.78, exceeding analysts' expectations of $5.03, with revenue of $2.79 billion, up 9.3% year-over-year.
• Institutional investors control 90.39% of Ulta Beauty’s stock, with significant increases in holdings from major firms such as Price T Rowe Associates Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reaffirmed by analysts at Telsey Advisory Group in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $610.00 price objective on the specialty retailer's stock. Telsey Advisory Group's price objective indicates a potential upside of 13.53% from the company's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Bank of America lifted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ulta Beauty from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $550.38.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of ULTA opened at $537.29 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $24.09 billion, a PE ratio of 20.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.08. Ulta Beauty has a 12-month low of $309.01 and a 12-month high of $572.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $530.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $468.69.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.66 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 48.78% and a net margin of 10.31%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.30 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Ulta Beauty will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ulta Beauty

In other news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.43, for a total value of $264,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,263 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,195,837.09. This represents a 18.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 128.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,225,023 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $449,021,000 after purchasing an additional 688,267 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the second quarter valued at about $258,791,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 81.7% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 913,600 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $334,871,000 after acquiring an additional 410,900 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 64.8% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 931,557 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $341,453,000 after buying an additional 366,147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 5,117.0% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 220,312 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $80,753,000 after purchasing an additional 216,089 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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