Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA Shares Acquired by Advisors Capital Management LLC

Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 18.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,184 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,441 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $15,096,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 218.5% during the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 86 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 71.4% during the 1st quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 96 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty during the 1st quarter worth $36,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ULTA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $605.00 price objective (up from $580.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, August 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $650.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, August 29th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $589.00 to $617.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $543.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 directly owned 2,263 shares in the company, valued at $1,195,837.09. This trade represents a 18.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

NASDAQ ULTA opened at $521.89 on Friday. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a one year low of $309.01 and a one year high of $539.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $508.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $436.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.40 billion, a PE ratio of 20.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.06.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $5.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.03 by $0.75. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.31% and a return on equity of 48.78%. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.30 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 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.