Wall Street Zen Upgrades Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) to "Buy"

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report issued on Saturday.

ULTA has been the topic of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $477.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $315.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price objective (up from $450.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $465.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $462.22.

Ulta Beauty Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of ULTA traded up $0.61 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $458.27. 1,372,385 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,045,928. Ulta Beauty has a 1-year low of $309.01 and a 1-year high of $491.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.60 billion, a PE ratio of 17.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a fifty day moving average of $427.68 and a 200-day moving average of $400.30.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In other news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 7,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,817,429.12. This represents a 10.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Ulta Beauty

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC increased its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 32.1% during the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 2,455 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,068,000 after buying an additional 596 shares during the last quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 19,500 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $8,481,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 10,587 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $4,605,000 after purchasing an additional 680 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,155 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $5,286,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth about $311,000. 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.