Lafayette Investments Inc. Has $1.66 Million Holdings in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Lafayette Investments Inc. decreased its holdings in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 11.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,524 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 570 shares during the period. Lafayette Investments Inc.'s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $1,658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ULTA. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ulta Beauty by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,199,935 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $520,587,000 after purchasing an additional 11,205 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter worth approximately $430,674,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 655,561 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $285,123,000 after purchasing an additional 9,291 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 562,155 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $244,498,000 after purchasing an additional 72,004 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter valued at $239,432,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ULTA shares. Citigroup raised their target price on Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $327.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. B. Riley dropped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $430.00 to $330.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $440.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $465.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $462.22.

Insider Transactions at Ulta Beauty

In other news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total value of $332,982.32. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of ULTA stock opened at $457.66 on Friday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $425.67 and its 200-day moving average is $399.98. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 52 week low of $309.01 and a 52 week high of $491.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.57 billion, a PE ratio of 17.88, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.09.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The specialty retailer reported $6.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.73 by $0.97. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 49.73% and a net margin of 10.45%. The business had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.47 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.

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