Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Hits New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) shares reached a new 52-week high on Saturday after Oppenheimer raised their price target on the stock from $465.00 to $510.00. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Ulta Beauty traded as high as $491.98 and last traded at $469.71, with a volume of 4593456 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $421.79.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $415.00 to $485.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $465.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $477.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $440.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $454.04.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total transaction of $332,982.32. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,817,429.12. This represents a 10.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ULTA. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 121.4% in the 4th quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust bought a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 218.5% during the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 86 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edge Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Trading Up 11.4%

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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $384.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $388.06.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The specialty retailer reported $6.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.73 by $0.97. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 51.95% and a net margin of 10.58%. The company had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.47 earnings per share. Ulta Beauty’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.