Penserra Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Penserra Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 18.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,071 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 477 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $968,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ULTA. Hemington Wealth Management raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 142.9% during the second quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the first quarter worth $37,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 178.4% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 103 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Ulta Beauty during the second quarter valued at $52,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ULTA. Argus upgraded Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $570.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $530.00 to $584.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. UBS Group raised their target price 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $550.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In other news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director owned 2,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,195,837.09. The trade was a 18.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 1.2%

NASDAQ ULTA opened at $522.83 on Wednesday. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 52 week low of $309.01 and a 52 week high of $572.23. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $530.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $490.84. The firm has a market cap of $23.44 billion, a PE ratio of 20.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.05.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $5.78 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 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.