Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Stock Price

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) had its target price decreased by analysts at Barclays from $445.00 to $327.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 8.59% from the company’s current price.

ULTA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $510.00 to $415.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $360.00 to $310.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $467.00 to $404.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $431.13.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

NASDAQ:ULTA traded up $43.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $357.72. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,283,061 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,042,214. Ulta Beauty has a twelve month low of $309.01 and a twelve month high of $574.76. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $386.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $386.82. The stock has a market cap of $16.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.34.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.13 by $1.33. The firm had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.47 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. Ulta Beauty’s revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $8.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Ulta Beauty will post 23.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 121.4% during the 4th quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 118.4% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 151.5% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. 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.