Sivia Capital Partners LLC Buys New Position in Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Key Points

• Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty Inc., purchasing 997 shares valued at approximately $466,000 in Q2 2023.
• A number of institutional investors, including Price T Rowe Associates and JPMorgan Chase & Co., significantly increased their stakes in Ulta Beauty during the first quarter of 2023, now owning over 90% of the company's stock.
• Recent analyst upgrades have raised Ulta Beauty's price target, with targets reaching up to$680.00, reflecting a broad consensus of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $543.13.

Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 997 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $466,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ULTA. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 218.5% during the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 86 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 71.4% during the first quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 96 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ULTA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $605.00 price target (up from $580.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, August 29th. Piper Sandler started coverage on Ulta Beauty in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $590.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $525.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $543.13.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

NASDAQ:ULTA traded down $13.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $521.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,150,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 878,546. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $513.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $441.96. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a twelve month low of $309.01 and a twelve month high of $539.00. The stock has a market cap of $23.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.06.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $5.78 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.30 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In other news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.43, for a total value of $264,215.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,263 shares in the company, valued at $1,195,837.09. This trade represents a 18.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Ulta Beauty

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.