Highland Capital Management LLC Sells 377 Shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Highland Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 13,866 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 377 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $6,487,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ULTA. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in Ulta Beauty during the first quarter worth $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 218.5% during the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 86 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 71.4% during the first quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 96 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new position in Ulta Beauty during the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in Ulta Beauty during the first quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ULTA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $589.00 to $617.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Monday, September 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $650.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, August 29th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $544.20.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

ULTA opened at $556.45 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $523.68 and its 200 day moving average is $457.62. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $309.01 and a fifty-two week high of $562.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.34, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.08.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $5.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.03 by $0.75. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.31% and a return on equity of 48.78%. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.