Korea Investment CORP Sells 25,341 Shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Korea Investment CORP trimmed its holdings in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 46.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,778 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 25,341 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.06% of Ulta Beauty worth $13,463,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 167.8% in the 2nd quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 4,513 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,111,000 after buying an additional 2,828 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the second quarter worth approximately $395,000. Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the second quarter valued at approximately $306,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $262,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 4,051 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

NASDAQ ULTA opened at $540.38 on Monday. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 1 year low of $309.01 and a 1 year high of $572.23. The company has a market capitalization of $24.23 billion, a PE ratio of 20.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a fifty day moving average of $530.33 and a 200 day moving average of $502.24.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued 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 during 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.30 EPS. Research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In related news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.43, for a total value of $264,215.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,263 shares in the company, valued at $1,195,837.09. The trade was a 18.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on ULTA. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective 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. Finally, Argus raised shares of Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $570.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company 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.