.jpg "Ulta Salon (NASDAQ: ULTA)")
Oppenheimer analyst Rupesh Parikh upgraded Ulta Salon (NASDAQ: ULTA) to Buy today and set a price target of $280. The company’s shares closed yesterday at $247.04.
Parikh observed:
“We are upgrading shares of ULTA to and lifting our PT to $280 (from $220). Last year, in a note titled A $248.60), we downgraded shares of ULTA on our concerns of a slowing beauty backdrop. We missed our opportunity to upgrade shares at a sub-$220 level post the Q4 print, but still see the potential for more gains and outperformance from here. As we look at the setup, we believe the elements for a continued move higher are in place, driven by our expectations for stabilizing/improving comp growth (one- year), easier comparisons, and the potential for management initiatives to drive strong underlying EPS growth. We now rank EL and ULTA equally as our top beauty picks.”
According to TipRanks.com, Parikh is a 5-star analyst with an average return of 16.0% and a 61.4% success rate. Parikh covers the Services sector, focusing on stocks such as Blue Apron Holdings Inc, United Natural Foods, and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
Currently, the analyst consensus on Ulta Salon is Moderate Buy and the average price target is $245.29, representing a -0.7% downside.
In a report issued on April 30, Piper Jaffray also maintained a Buy rating on the stock with a $268 price target.
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Based on Ulta Salon’s latest earnings release for the quarter ending January 31, the company reported a quarterly net profit of $208 million. In comparison, last year the company had a net profit of $128 million.
Based on the recent corporate insider activity of 39 insiders, corporate insider sentiment is negative on the stock. Last month, Lorna Nagler, a Director at ULTA sold 3,000 shares for a total of $685,050.
TipRanks has tracked 36,000 company insiders and found that a few of them are better than others when it comes to timing their transactions. See which 3 stocks are most likely to make moves following their insider activities.
Ulta Beauty, Inc. is a beauty retailer of cosmetics, fragrance, skin care products, hair care products, and salon services. It provide unmatched product breadth, value and convenience in a distinctive specialty retail environment. The company was founded in January 9, 1990 and its headquartered in Bolingbrook, IL.
