JPMorgan Chase & Co. Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Stock

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) had its price objective raised by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $477.00 to $525.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Ulta Beauty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $384.00 to $423.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $315.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $465.00 price objective (up from $435.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $490.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $415.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $454.04.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of ULTA opened at $469.71 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s fifty day moving average is $384.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $388.06. Ulta Beauty has a 1 year low of $309.01 and a 1 year high of $491.98.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The specialty retailer reported $6.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.73 by $0.97. The company had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.79 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. Ulta Beauty’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.47 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Ulta Beauty will post 23.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total value of $332,982.32. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,632 shares in the company, valued at $2,817,429.12. The trade was a 10.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ULTA. Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth about $430,674,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 128.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,225,023 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $449,021,000 after buying an additional 688,267 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter valued at about $239,432,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 10,336.7% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 459,110 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $199,681,000 after purchasing an additional 454,711 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 38,770.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 443,513 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $162,565,000 after purchasing an additional 442,372 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.