Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA Shares Purchased by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 48.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,548 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 835 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $1,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 17.9% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,092 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,190,000 after acquiring an additional 924 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty during the second quarter worth about $395,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty during the first quarter worth about $201,000. Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty during the second quarter worth about $306,000. Finally, J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 167.8% during the second quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 4,513 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,111,000 after acquiring an additional 2,828 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on ULTA shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. 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 report on Friday, August 29th. Argus upgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $570.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $605.00 price target (up previously from $580.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, August 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $550.38.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $517.66 on Monday. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $309.01 and a fifty-two week high of $572.23. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $531.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $477.34. The stock has a market cap of $23.21 billion, a PE ratio of 19.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.08.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $5.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.03 by $0.75. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 48.78% and a net margin of 10.31%.The firm’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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 Ulta Beauty 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,263 shares in the company, valued at $1,195,837.09. The trade was a 18.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.