Oppenheimer names Ulta Beauty top pick after recent pullback

Oppenheimer added Ulta Beauty (ULTA) to the firm’s “top pick status” while keeping an Outperform rating on the shares with a $515 price target Following a positive business update earlier this week, Oppenheimer has been “perplexed” by the move lower in shares, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm s walked away from “this second positive update in recent months increasingly confident” in management’s ability to sustain a 12%-plus operating margin over time and drive back toward a 3%-4% comp. Ulta remains under-owned and has a “very attractive setup” for further outperformance developing, contends Opco. It says the pullback in shares creates an attractive entry point.