Citigroup Issues Positive Forecast for Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Stock Price

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) had its price objective increased by investment analysts at Citigroup from $345.00 to $390.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. Citigroup’s price target points to a potential upside of 3.93% from the stock’s current price.

ULTA has been the subject of several other research reports. DA Davidson cut their target price on Ulta Beauty from $507.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $550.00 to $505.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $426.00 to $424.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $525.00 to $485.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $435.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $422.58.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of ULTA stock opened at $375.25 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $374.43 and a 200-day moving average of $376.67. The stock has a market cap of $17.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.33. Ulta Beauty has a 52-week low of $318.17 and a 52-week high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.47 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.61 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 54.02% and a net margin of 10.68%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.02 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ulta Beauty will post 23.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 180,713.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,238,569 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $481,952,000 after buying an additional 1,237,884 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,188,730 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $461,059,000 after purchasing an additional 10,153 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 3rd quarter valued at about $359,480,000. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 14.1% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 620,793 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $239,545,000 after purchasing an additional 76,721 shares during the period. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 610,400 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $237,519,000 after purchasing an additional 31,540 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.