HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 635 Shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Ulta Beauty Inc. by 0.6%, selling 635 shares and holding approximately 114,073 shares worth about $41.81 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Ulta Beauty reported earnings of $6.70 per share for its most recent quarter, surpassing expectations of $5.73 and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 4.5%.
• Analysts have varied target prices for Ulta Beauty, with JPMorgan Chase raising its target from $477 to $525, while the stock carries a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $473.

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its stake in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 0.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 114,073 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 635 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.25% of Ulta Beauty worth $41,812,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ULTA. American National Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the first quarter worth $29,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the first quarter worth $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 218.5% in the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 86 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 71.4% in the first quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 96 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the first quarter worth $37,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA opened at $532.71 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $23.95 billion, a PE ratio of 20.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $486.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $416.90. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $309.01 and a fifty-two week high of $534.10.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The specialty retailer reported $6.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.73 by $0.97. The business had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 49.73% and a net margin of 10.45%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.47 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ULTA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $477.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $437.00 price objective (up from $386.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $520.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $364.00 to $386.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $473.00.

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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