Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA Shares Sold by Magellan Asset Management Ltd

Magellan Asset Management Ltd decreased its holdings in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 63,708 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 15,492 shares during the quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $29,804,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hemington Wealth Management grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 142.9% during the second quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 178.4% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 103 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the second quarter valued at about $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.43, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $517.79 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $23.22 billion, a PE ratio of 19.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $530.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $487.40. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 1-year low of $309.01 and a 1-year high of $572.23.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ULTA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, August 29th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $550.38.

About Ulta Beauty

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.