Bank of Nova Scotia Trims Stock Position in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Bank of Nova Scotia reduced its position in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 86.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,847 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 29,745 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $1,777,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ULTA. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,092 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,190,000 after buying an additional 924 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 14.8% during the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,179 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $435,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter worth approximately $201,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 128.9% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 737 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,210 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ULTA shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $440.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $315.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $550.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $364.00 to $386.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, July 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $469.09.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 1.9%

NASDAQ:ULTA traded down $10.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $506.17. The company's stock had a trading volume of 799,576 shares, compared to its average volume of 537,293. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $482.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $414.36. The stock has a market cap of $22.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.77, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.12. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 12-month low of $309.01 and a 12-month high of $523.68.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The specialty retailer reported $6.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.73 by $0.97. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 49.73%. The company had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.47 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share 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.