Wright Investors Service Inc. Buys New Stake in Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Key Points

• Wright Investors Service Inc. has purchased 3,523 shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. valued at approximately $1,648,000 during the second quarter.
• Ulta Beauty reported earnings per share of $5.78 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $5.03 and showing a 9.3% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• Multiple research firms have raised their price objectives for Ulta Beauty's stock, with UBS Group now having a target of $680.00 and maintaining a "buy" rating.

Wright Investors Service Inc. bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,523 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $1,648,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 834 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC now owns 1,673 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $626,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 32.5% during the 1st quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 110 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 707 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 625 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In other news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director owned 2,263 shares in the company, valued at $1,195,837.09. This represents a 18.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on ULTA shares. Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Oppenheimer upped their target price 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. Robert W. Baird upped their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $530.00 to $584.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. One equities 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $543.13.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of ULTA traded down $3.31 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $518.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 673,889 shares, compared to its average volume of 877,328. The company has a market cap of $23.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a fifty day moving average of $514.04 and a 200 day moving average of $444.44. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 1 year low of $309.01 and a 1 year high of $539.00.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $5.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.30 EPS. The company's revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current year.

About Ulta Beauty

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.