Simmons Bank Raises Stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Simmons Bank increased its holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 14.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,124 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 634 shares during the quarter. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $2,229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 118.4% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 151.5% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new position in Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Ulta Beauty in the third quarter worth about $41,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA opened at $366.73 on Thursday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 52 week low of $318.17 and a 52 week high of $574.76. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $405.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $387.96. The firm has a market cap of $17.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.28.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.69. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 51.95% and a net margin of 10.58%. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.07 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on ULTA. B. Riley upgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $330.00 to $430.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $472.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. William Blair downgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $459.22.

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.