Auxier Asset Management Purchases New Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Auxier Asset Management acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 918 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $354,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ULTA. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 83.3% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 66 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Vima LLC bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 490.0% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 59 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $388.68, for a total value of $252,642.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,643,412.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $390.08, for a total transaction of $39,008.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,017 shares in the company, valued at $786,791.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $388.68, for a total transaction of $252,642.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,643,412.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ULTA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $385.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Raymond James downgraded Ulta Beauty from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $500.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $385.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $328.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $435.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $425.29.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock opened at $402.01 on Friday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 52-week low of $318.17 and a 52-week high of $574.76. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $368.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $408.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.31.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.47 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.61 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 54.02% and a net margin of 10.68%. Ulta Beauty’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.02 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty Company 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.