Meeder Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Key Points

• Meeder Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in Ulta Beauty by 84.1%, selling 1,166 shares and retaining just 220 shares worth approximately $81,000.
• Ulta Beauty reported earnings of $6.70 per share for the latest quarter, exceeding consensus estimates by $0.97, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 4.5%.
• Several analysts raised their target prices for Ulta Beauty, with JPMorgan Chase increasing its target from $477 to $525 and Citigroup from $425 to $450.

Meeder Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 84.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 220 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 1,166 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $81,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,092 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $2,190,000 after buying an additional 924 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 14.8% during the 1st quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,179 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 1st quarter worth $201,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 128.9% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 737 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 26.4% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 73,137 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $31,809,000 after purchasing an additional 15,258 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ULTA shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $465.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 price objective (up from $450.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Barclays lifted 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 report on Monday, June 2nd. Loop Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $510.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $550.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $469.09.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock traded down $7.28 on Friday, reaching $507.73. 609,772 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 546,886. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 1-year low of $309.01 and a 1-year high of $523.68. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $475.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $411.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.82 billion, a PE ratio of 19.83, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.08.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.73 by $0.97. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 49.73%. The business had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.47 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current 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.