Central Bank & Trust Co. Purchases 824 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Central Bank & Trust Co. grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 90.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,733 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 824 shares during the quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $635,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 121.4% during the 4th quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust bought a new position in Ulta Beauty in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Edge Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the first quarter worth $37,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 35.6% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 118 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total value of $332,982.32. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,817,429.12. This represents a 10.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $510.00 to $542.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $477.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. 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. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $490.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $380.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $460.91.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Ulta Beauty stock traded down $1.40 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $465.64. 601,489 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,049,972. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $394.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $391.91. The firm has a market cap of $20.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 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.

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 (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 analysts' expectations of $2.79 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 51.95% and a net margin of 10.58%. The business's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.47 earnings per share. Research 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.