Vanguard Group Inc. Has $2.49 Billion Stake in Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 1.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,319,740 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 55,800 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 11.84% of Ulta Beauty worth $2,488,681,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ULTA. Intrust Bank NA boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 20.6% during the 2nd quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 1,379 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $645,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 4.3% in the second quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 23,500 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $10,994,000 after buying an additional 972 shares during the period. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,971,000. Westpac Banking Corp grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1,418.2% during the 2nd quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 10,734 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $5,022,000 after buying an additional 10,027 shares during the period. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 2nd quarter valued at $210,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on ULTA shares. Loop Capital reissued a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, July 25th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ulta Beauty from $525.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $605.00 price target (up from $580.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $550.38.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of the 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 sale, the director owned 2,263 shares in the company, valued at $1,195,837.09. This represents a 18.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of ULTA stock opened at $496.44 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $530.11 and a 200-day moving average of $495.47. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a one year low of $309.01 and a one year high of $572.23. The company has a market cap of $22.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.05.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $5.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.30 earnings per share. Ulta Beauty’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% 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 fiscal year.

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.