Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA Shares Sold by Royal Bank of Canada

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada reduced its stake in Ulta Beauty by 27.4%, owning approximately $37.11 million worth of shares after selling 38,156 shares in the first quarter.
• Ulta Beauty reported $5.78 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, along with revenue growth of 9.3% year-over-year.
• Analysts have varied price targets for Ulta Beauty, with UBS Group increasing theirs to $680.00 and JPMorgan Chase to $600.00, signaling a generally positive outlook for the stock.

Royal Bank of Canada lowered its position in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 27.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 101,239 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 38,156 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.22% of Ulta Beauty worth $37,109,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 924 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position 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 buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the first quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 128.9% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 737 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kaufman Rossin Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the first quarter valued at approximately $250,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director directly owned 2,263 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,195,837.09. This represents a 18.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.39% of the company's stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 1.1%

NASDAQ:ULTA traded down $5.96 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $513.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 699,584 shares, compared to its average volume of 916,039. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 1 year low of $309.01 and a 1 year high of $539.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $506.63 and a 200-day moving average of $434.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.04 billion, a PE ratio of 19.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.06.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $5.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.03 by $0.75. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.31% and a return on equity of 48.78%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $590.00 price target on the stock. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $543.13.

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.