Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,283 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $600,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 13,602 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,363,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 2nd quarter valued at about $249,000. SYM FINANCIAL Corp purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 2nd quarter valued at about $351,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 6,880 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,219,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 269.5% in the 2nd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 3,281 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,535,000 after purchasing an additional 2,393 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 0.8%

NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $518.79 on Wednesday. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 52 week low of $309.01 and a 52 week high of $572.23. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $531.66 and a 200 day moving average of $479.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.89, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.08.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $5.78 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.30 earnings per share. Ulta Beauty’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.43, for a total transaction of $264,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,195,837.09. This represents a 18.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ULTA has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $510.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.