Loop Capital Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by research analysts at Loop Capital in a note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $510.00 price objective on the specialty retailer’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $480.00. Loop Capital’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 7.72% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on ULTA. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $327.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Ulta Beauty from $467.00 to $404.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Ulta Beauty from $510.00 to $542.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $460.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $315.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $462.22.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $473.46 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.49, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $412.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $397.41. Ulta Beauty has a 1 year low of $309.01 and a 1 year high of $491.98.

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 49.73% and a net margin of 10.45%. 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. As a group, analysts expect that Ulta Beauty will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In related news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total transaction of $332,982.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,632 shares in the company, valued at $2,817,429.12. This represents a 10.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. Capital World Investors purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth $430,674,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 128.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,225,023 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $449,021,000 after acquiring an additional 688,267 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter valued at about $239,432,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 10,336.7% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 459,110 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $199,681,000 after purchasing an additional 454,711 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 38,770.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 443,513 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $162,565,000 after purchasing an additional 442,372 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.