Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $697.26 and last traded at $696.9850, with a volume of 47598 shares. The stock had previously closed at $690.37.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ULTA shares. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $680.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Zacks Research lowered Ulta Beauty from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $725.00 to $775.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $626.44.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 2.4%

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $633.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $563.55. The stock has a market cap of $30.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.05, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.85.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.61 by $0.53. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 9.93% and a return on equity of 46.33%. The company had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.14 EPS. Ulta Beauty’s revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Ulta Beauty has set its FY 2025 guidance at 25.200-25.500 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter valued at about $430,963,000. Holocene Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 339.6% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 379,939 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $207,732,000 after buying an additional 293,516 shares during the last quarter. Andra AP fonden increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 351,900.0% during the third quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 228,800 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $125,096,000 after acquiring an additional 228,735 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 33.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 840,383 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $459,479,000 after acquiring an additional 211,485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 249.8% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 295,833 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $161,747,000 after acquiring an additional 211,266 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

About Ulta Beauty

Ulta Beauty, Inc (NASDAQ: ULTA) is a U.S.-based specialty retailer and beauty services provider focused on cosmetics, fragrance, skin care, hair care, bath and body, and beauty tools. The company operates a dual-format business that combines brick-and-mortar retail stores with an e-commerce platform, offering a broad assortment of national, prestige and mass-market brands alongside its own private-label products. In many locations Ulta also provides full-service salon treatments, positioning the company as a one-stop destination for product discovery and in-store services.

The retailer’s product mix spans color cosmetics, haircare and styling products, skin and body care, fragrance, and accessories, catering to a wide range of consumer preferences and price points.