GC Wealth Management RIA LLC Buys New Shares in Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Key Points

• GC Wealth Management RIA LLC acquired 2,472 shares of Ulta Beauty Inc., valued at approximately $1,156,000, during the second quarter.
• Ulta Beauty reported $5.78 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates, with revenues rising 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year.
• Several analysts upgraded their price targets for Ulta Beauty, with UBS raising theirs to $680.00 and JPMorgan Chase to $600.00, reflecting strong favorable sentiment towards the stock.

GC Wealth Management RIA LLC purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,472 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $1,156,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. American National Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the first quarter valued at $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 218.5% in the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 86 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. North Star Investment Management Corp. increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 71.4% in the 1st quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 96 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company's stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 0.3%

ULTA stock opened at $553.71 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $520.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $452.62. The company has a market cap of $24.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.23, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.06. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 12-month low of $309.01 and a 12-month high of $554.13.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on ULTA. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $605.00 price target (up previously from $580.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, August 29th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $525.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $544.20.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $264,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,263 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,195,837.09. The trade was a 18.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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