Highland Capital Management LLC Sells 377 Shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Highland Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 13,866 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 377 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $6,487,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. 111 Capital raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 371.2% in the second quarter. 111 Capital now owns 4,024 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,883,000 after acquiring an additional 3,170 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 73.8% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 21,853 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $10,223,000 after purchasing an additional 9,282 shares during the period. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the second quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Ascent Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the second quarter valued at approximately $395,000. Finally, Mattern Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 8.5% in the second quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 2,199 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.43, for a total transaction of $264,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,263 shares in the company, valued at $1,195,837.09. This represents a 18.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock opened at $556.45 on Friday. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 52-week low of $309.01 and a 52-week high of $562.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a fifty day moving average of $523.68 and a 200-day moving average of $457.62.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $5.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.03 by $0.75. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.31% and a return on equity of 48.78%. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ULTA. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $544.20.

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.