Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-four research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have given a hold recommendation and twelve have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $425.08.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ULTA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $412.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $525.00 to $485.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $435.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $395.00 to $390.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $385.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ULTA. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the first quarter worth approximately $176,753,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 210.4% during the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 271,550 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $141,988,000 after acquiring an additional 184,060 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 87.3% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 337,882 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $130,380,000 after acquiring an additional 157,497 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 47.7% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 476,027 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $246,862,000 after acquiring an additional 153,727 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 33.6% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 544,072 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $284,484,000 after acquiring an additional 136,725 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

NASDAQ ULTA opened at $372.72 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $17.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $368.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $398.98. Ulta Beauty has a 1-year low of $318.17 and a 1-year high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.47 by ($0.17). Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 54.02% and a net margin of 10.68%. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.02 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty will post 23.21 EPS for the current fiscal 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.