NorthRock Partners LLC Acquires New Holdings in Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Key Points

• NorthRock Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty Inc., purchasing 562 shares valued at approximately $263,000 during the second quarter.
• Institutional investors now own 90.39% of Ulta Beauty, with significant stake increases reported by Price T Rowe Associates and JPMorgan Chase & Co..
• Ulta Beauty reported a quarterly EPS of $5.78, exceeding analyst expectations, with revenue growth of 9.3% year-over-year, amounting to $2.79 billion.

NorthRock Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 562 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $263,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 128.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,225,023 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $449,021,000 after acquiring an additional 688,267 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 64.8% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 931,557 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $341,453,000 after acquiring an additional 366,147 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 81.7% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 913,600 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $334,871,000 after acquiring an additional 410,900 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 10.9% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 813,639 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $298,231,000 after acquiring an additional 79,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 17.4% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 545,050 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $254,985,000 after acquiring an additional 80,734 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Piper Sandler began coverage on Ulta Beauty in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $590.00 price target on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $650.00 to $653.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Argus raised Ulta Beauty from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $570.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $550.38.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA opened at $537.29 on Friday. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a one year low of $309.01 and a one year high of $572.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.09 billion, a PE ratio of 20.60, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $530.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $468.69.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.30 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 2,263 shares in the company, valued at $1,195,837.09. The trade was a 18.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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