Virtu Financial LLC Acquires New Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 3,725 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,947,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nvwm LLC lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $511,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 41.2% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 72 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 2,828 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,386,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Nkcfo LLC lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Nkcfo LLC now owns 183 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 32.5% in the first quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 102 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on ULTA shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Ulta Beauty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $605.00 to $476.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $565.00 to $475.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $350.00 to $325.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $497.61.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In related news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $390.08, for a total value of $39,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $786,791.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $390.08, for a total transaction of $39,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $786,791.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $388.68, for a total transaction of $252,642.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,643,412.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of ULTA stock traded down $8.94 on Friday, hitting $341.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 936,435 shares, compared to its average volume of 819,418. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $386.19 and its 200-day moving average is $447.03. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $338.11 and a fifty-two week high of $574.76. The company has a market capitalization of $16.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.45, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.37.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The specialty retailer reported $6.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.19 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.72 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 11.13% and a return on equity of 58.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.88 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 25.66 earnings per share 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.