Motco Boosts Holdings in Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Motco boosted its position in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 5.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,396 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,144 shares during the period. Ulta Beauty makes up about 1.1% of Motco’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Motco’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $11,534,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Hemington Wealth Management grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 142.9% in the 2nd quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in 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 buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In related news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.43, for a total value of $264,215.00. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 0.8%

Ulta Beauty stock opened at $518.79 on Wednesday. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 52 week low of $309.01 and a 52 week high of $572.23. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $531.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $479.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.26 billion, a PE ratio of 19.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.08.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 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 firm earned $5.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ULTA. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $650.00 to $653.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $510.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $605.00 target price (up from $580.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $570.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. One investment 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 issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $550.38.

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.