Ritholtz Wealth Management Boosts Stock Holdings in Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Key Points

• Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake in Ulta Beauty Inc. by 90.8% in the second quarter, owning 3,284 shares valued at approximately $1.54 million.
• Various institutional investors have recently altered their holdings in Ulta Beauty, with total hedge fund ownership at 90.39% of the stock.
• In the latest earnings report, Ulta Beauty reported earnings of $5.78 per share, surpassing estimates, and a year-over-year revenue increase of 9.3%.

Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 90.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,284 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 1,563 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management's holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $1,536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 17.9% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,092 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $2,190,000 after acquiring an additional 924 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 14.8% during the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,179 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $435,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the second quarter valued at about $395,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the first quarter valued at about $201,000. Finally, J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 167.8% during the second quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 4,513 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $2,111,000 after acquiring an additional 2,828 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.43, for a total transaction of $264,215.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,263 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,195,837.09. This trade represents a 18.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ULTA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $595.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $605.00 price target (up from $580.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $550.38.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

ULTA stock opened at $533.51 on Friday. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 1 year low of $309.01 and a 1 year high of $572.23. The company has a market cap of $23.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.46, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $531.17 and a 200 day moving average of $469.79.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $5.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.30 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect 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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