Bank of America Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Stock

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) had its price objective boosted by Bank of America from $460.00 to $475.00 in a report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped 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. StockNews.com downgraded Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. William Blair downgraded Ulta Beauty from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Ulta Beauty from $426.00 to $424.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $454.43.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $428.27 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $399.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $383.42. The company has a market capitalization of $19.86 billion, a PE ratio of 17.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.28. Ulta Beauty has a 1-year low of $318.17 and a 1-year high of $574.76.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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.