Bender Robert & Associates Purchases 1,396 Shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Bender Robert & Associates grew its stake in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 6.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,761 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 1,396 shares during the quarter. Ulta Beauty makes up about 2.1% of Bender Robert & Associates' holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Bender Robert & Associates owned approximately 0.05% of Ulta Beauty worth $8,343,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 218.5% during the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 86 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 37.7% during the first quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. now owns 7,777 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $2,851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,130 shares in the last quarter. Boothe Investment Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the first quarter valued at about $7,570,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 3.4% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,571 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $4,608,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 625 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total value of $332,982.32. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,632 shares in the company, valued at $2,817,429.12. The trade was a 10.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $415.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Ulta Beauty from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $384.00 to $423.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on Ulta Beauty from $490.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Argus cut Ulta Beauty from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $380.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $462.22.

Ulta Beauty Trading Up 0.4%

ULTA stock traded up $1.71 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $473.46. The company had a trading volume of 627,470 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,042,929. The stock has a market cap of $21.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.49, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.09. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 52 week low of $309.01 and a 52 week high of $491.98. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $410.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $396.88.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The specialty retailer reported $6.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.73 by $0.97. The company had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 49.73%. The firm's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.47 EPS. 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.