Blue Trust Inc. Increases Stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 240 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $93,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Choreo LLC increased its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 71.7% in the 2nd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 2,868 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,198 shares during the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 92.8% in the 1st quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 7,278 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,806,000 after purchasing an additional 3,504 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 89,799 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $46,954,000 after purchasing an additional 8,337 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 2nd quarter worth about $19,136,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 2,778 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,072,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock opened at $379.84 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $376.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $382.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.32. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a one year low of $318.17 and a one year high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.47 by ($0.17). Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 54.02%. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.61 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.02 earnings per share. Ulta Beauty’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ULTA has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Ulta Beauty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $426.00 to $424.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $522.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $420.71.

Ulta Beauty Profile

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.