Auxier Asset Management Increases Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Auxier Asset Management grew its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 27.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,168 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Auxier Asset Management’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $454,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Ulta Beauty in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 34.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,471 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $7,044,000 after buying an additional 3,443 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 201.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 4,134 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,162,000 after purchasing an additional 2,762 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 47.7% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 476,027 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $246,862,000 after acquiring an additional 153,727 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 214,653 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $109,906,000 after purchasing an additional 32,468 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ULTA shares. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $507.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $430.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on Ulta Beauty from $522.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. B. Riley initiated coverage on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $300.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $422.58.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $375.25 on Friday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1 year low of $318.17 and a 1 year high of $574.76. The stock has a market cap of $17.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $374.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $376.67.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.47 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.61 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 54.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.02 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.07 EPS for the current year.

Ulta Beauty Company 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.