Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA Shares Sold by Earnest Partners LLC

Key Points

• Earnest Partners LLC has reduced its position in Ulta Beauty Inc. by 2.0%, now holding 143,951 shares worth $52.76 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Northern Trust Corp and AQR Capital Management, have increased their stakes in Ulta Beauty, with institutional ownership reaching 90.39% of the company's stock.
• Analysts have set new price targets for Ulta Beauty, with recent upgrades raising the price objective as high as $589.00 from Barclays, indicating strong market optimism.

Earnest Partners LLC lessened its position in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 2.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 143,951 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 2,913 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC owned about 0.32% of Ulta Beauty worth $52,764,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. Wambolt & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC now owns 1,673 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $626,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 32.5% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 707 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 626 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 625 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ULTA shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $520.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $530.00 to $584.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $534.75.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Ulta Beauty stock traded down $37.90 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $492.73. 2,938,427 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 676,046. The stock has a market cap of $22.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.12. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 52-week low of $309.01 and a 52-week high of $538.59. The firm's 50 day moving average is $498.99 and its 200 day moving average is $427.13.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $5.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.03 by $0.75. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.31% and a return on equity of 49.73%. The business's revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.30 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty 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.