AQR Capital Management LLC Purchases 190,353 Shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 237.7% in Q1, owning approximately 270,420 shares valued at $96.67 million.
• Ulta Beauty reported $5.78 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates and reflecting a 9.3% year-over-year revenue increase to $2.79 billion.
• Analysts maintain a positive outlook, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $543.13 for Ulta Beauty stock.

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 237.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 270,420 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 190,353 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.60% of Ulta Beauty worth $96,674,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wambolt & Associates LLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 32.5% during the first 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 holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 4.3% during the first 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. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 5.0% during the first quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 625 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LaFleur & Godfrey LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 2,485 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $911,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ULTA shares. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $650.00 target price on Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, August 29th. Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $530.00 to $584.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $543.13.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 2.8%

Ulta Beauty stock traded down $14.64 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $514.86. 880,236 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 902,338. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.09 billion, a PE ratio of 19.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.06. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $504.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $432.56. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a one year low of $309.01 and a one year high of $539.00.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 48.78% and a net margin of 10.31%.The business's revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.30 EPS. On average, sell-side 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.