Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Given New $475.00 Price Target at Stifel Nicolaus

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) had its price target hoisted by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $455.00 to $475.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective points to a potential upside of 7.42% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on ULTA. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price 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. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $390.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $385.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $442.96.

Ulta Beauty Trading Up 2.5 %

Ulta Beauty stock traded up $10.87 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $442.17. The company had a trading volume of 755,135 shares, compared to its average volume of 634,627. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $398.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $383.10. Ulta Beauty has a 52 week low of $318.17 and a 52 week high of $574.76.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 16.6% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,392 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $7,065,000 after acquiring an additional 2,619 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 65.9% during the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 10,022 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,867,000 after purchasing an additional 3,982 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $525,000. Caprock Group LLC lifted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 1.7% in the second quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 4,328 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,670,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Foundation Advisors increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 45.9% during the 2nd quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 162 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.