Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Acquires 988 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 20.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,805 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 988 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $2,525,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Paladin Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the third quarter worth $32,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 118.4% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 151.5% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 0.4 %

ULTA opened at $376.34 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $17.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $417.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $386.32. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 52-week low of $318.17 and a 52-week high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.69. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.07 EPS. Ulta Beauty’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ULTA shares. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $470.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley raised Ulta Beauty from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $430.00 to $500.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Loop Capital increased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. William Blair downgraded Ulta Beauty from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $385.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $459.22.

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.