Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Upgraded to Neutral at B. Riley

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) was upgraded by stock analysts at B. Riley from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $430.00 target price on the specialty retailer’s stock, up from their previous target price of $330.00. B. Riley’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 3.58% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $440.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com cut shares of Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $435.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $442.00 to $476.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $458.78.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $415.14 on Tuesday. Ulta Beauty has a 1 year low of $318.17 and a 1 year high of $574.76. The business’s 50-day moving average is $400.28 and its 200 day moving average is $383.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.28.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.69. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.07 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Ulta Beauty will post 23.57 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Paladin Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 118.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 151.5% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the third quarter worth $44,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.