Vontobel Holding Ltd. Sells 902 Shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Vontobel Holding Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 22.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,105 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 902 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $1,453,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 128.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,225,023 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $449,021,000 after acquiring an additional 688,267 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 64.8% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 931,557 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $341,453,000 after buying an additional 366,147 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 81.7% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 913,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $334,871,000 after purchasing an additional 410,900 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 813,639 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $298,231,000 after acquiring an additional 79,666 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 17.4% during the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 545,050 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $254,985,000 after acquiring an additional 80,734 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 2.1%

NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $549.28 on Friday. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a twelve month low of $309.01 and a twelve month high of $572.23. The company has a market cap of $24.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $528.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $464.56.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $5.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.03 by $0.75. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 48.78% and a net margin of 10.31%.The business 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 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ULTA shares. Loop Capital reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $510.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, July 25th. Argus raised shares of Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $570.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $589.00 to $617.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $605.00 price objective (up 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 assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $549.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In other news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $1,195,837.09. This trade represents a 18.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.