Freedom Investment Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Freedom Investment Management Inc. cut its stake in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 25.9% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 500 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 175 shares during the quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $234,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 128.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,225,023 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $449,021,000 after purchasing an additional 688,267 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 64.8% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 931,557 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $341,453,000 after purchasing an additional 366,147 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 81.7% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 913,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $334,871,000 after purchasing an additional 410,900 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 813,639 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $298,231,000 after buying an additional 79,666 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 17.4% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 545,050 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $254,985,000 after buying an additional 80,734 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA opened at $522.82 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $23.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.05, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.08. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 12-month low of $309.01 and a 12-month high of $572.23. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $531.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $478.45.

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

Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $264,215.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,195,837.09. This trade represents a 18.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ULTA shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $510.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $589.00 to $617.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $595.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on Ulta Beauty in a report on Thursday, September 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $590.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $550.38.

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.