Aberdeen Group plc Grows Position in Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc increased its holdings in Ulta Beauty Inc. by 89% during the first quarter, now owning $12.23 million worth of shares.
• Ulta Beauty reported earnings of $6.70 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue of $2.85 billion.
• Institutional investors hold approximately 90.39% of Ulta Beauty's stock, reflecting strong investor confidence in the specialty retailer.

Aberdeen Group plc increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 89.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,851 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 15,943 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned 0.07% of Ulta Beauty worth $12,232,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ULTA. American National Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the first quarter valued at $29,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 218.5% in the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 86 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 71.4% in the first quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 96 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the first quarter worth about $37,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on ULTA shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $460.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $465.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on 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 price target on Ulta Beauty from $440.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $487.96.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA traded up $9.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $529.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 624,262 shares, compared to its average volume of 563,458. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.80 billion, a PE ratio of 20.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $494.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $422.37. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 52 week low of $309.01 and a 52 week high of $534.10.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The specialty retailer reported $6.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.73 by $0.97. The firm had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 49.73% and a net margin of 10.45%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.47 earnings per share. Ulta Beauty has set its FY 2025 guidance at 22.650-23.200 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current fiscal 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.