Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Bought by Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC

Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC raised its position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 32.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,774 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 678 shares during the period. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $1,079,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 3rd quarter valued at about $215,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,563 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $608,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 4,817 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,874,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 24.5% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 1,596 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $621,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vista Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 6,639 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,583,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Ulta Beauty stock opened at $368.92 on Friday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1 year low of $318.17 and a 1 year high of $574.76. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $373.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $387.32. The company has a market cap of $17.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.80, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.32.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.47 by ($0.17). Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 54.02% and a net margin of 10.68%. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.02 earnings per share. Ulta Beauty’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.1 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 28th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $550.00 to $505.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $412.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $423.71.

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.