Fifth Third Bancorp Has $2.45 Million Stake in Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 20.9%, owning a total of 5,227 shares valued at $2.45 million as of the last reporting period.
• Several institutional investors, including MassMutual and GAMMA Investing, significantly raised their stakes in Ulta Beauty, reflecting growing confidence in the company.
• Ulta Beauty's recent quarterly earnings surpassed expectations, reporting $5.78 EPS compared to the estimated $5.03 EPS, with revenues of $2.79 billion, indicating a 9.3% year-over-year growth.

Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 20.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,227 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 903 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $2,445,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ULTA. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 35.6% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 118 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 20.2% in the 1st quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 3,087 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,132,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 450.5% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 545 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $200,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 38,770.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 443,513 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $162,565,000 after purchasing an additional 442,372 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 40.8% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 438 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $161,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.43, for a total transaction of $264,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,263 shares in the company, valued at $1,195,837.09. The trade was a 18.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ULTA has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $530.00 to $584.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Piper Sandler started coverage on Ulta Beauty in a report on Thursday, September 4th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $590.00 price objective for the company. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $610.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Monday, September 8th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $544.20.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Ulta Beauty stock opened at $552.00 on Friday. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 52 week low of $309.01 and a 52 week high of $552.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.17, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $519.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $449.46.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $5.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.03 by $0.75. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 48.78% and a net margin of 10.31%.The business had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.30 earnings per share. Ulta Beauty's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current 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.

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