Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) shares gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $350.00 to $370.00. The stock had previously closed at $431.30, but opened at $450.02. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Ulta Beauty shares last traded at $445.54, with a volume of 449,700 shares changing hands.

ULTA has been the topic of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $385.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $435.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $472.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $390.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $442.09.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ULTA. Paladin Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 118.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 151.5% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, American National Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the third quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $20.56 billion, a PE ratio of 17.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $398.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $383.10.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.69. The business 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 business’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.07 EPS. Analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.57 earnings per share for the current 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.