Wormser Freres Gestion Cuts Stock Holdings in Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Wormser Freres Gestion cut its position in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 2.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,095 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 304 shares during the period. Ulta Beauty accounts for 3.9% of Wormser Freres Gestion’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Wormser Freres Gestion’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $6,592,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 111 Capital boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 371.2% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 73.8% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 21,853 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $10,223,000 after purchasing an additional 9,282 shares during the period. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the second quarter worth approximately $219,000. Ascent Group LLC purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the second quarter worth approximately $395,000. Finally, Mattern Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ULTA. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $650.00 target price on Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $595.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $530.00 to $584.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $544.20.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock opened at $556.45 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $24.95 billion, a PE ratio of 21.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.08. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 52 week low of $309.01 and a 52 week high of $562.11. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $523.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $458.44.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.43, for a total value of $264,215.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,195,837.09. This represents a 18.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.