Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Upgraded at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Morgan Stanley currently has $500.00 price target on the specialty retailer’s stock, up from their previous price target of $430.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on ULTA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ulta Beauty from $472.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $470.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $459.22.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 0.0 %

NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $418.55 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.28. Ulta Beauty has a 52 week low of $318.17 and a 52 week high of $574.76. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $406.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $385.23.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.69. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.07 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ulta Beauty will post 23.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Caprock Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 4,654 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,024,000 after buying an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Donald L. Hagan LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth $1,074,000. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 24,006 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $10,427,000 after acquiring an additional 2,423 shares in the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 18,061 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $7,855,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Allen Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 2,865 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,246,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

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.