Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Invests $219,000 in Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Key Points

• Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. invested $219,000 in Ulta Beauty Inc., acquiring 469 shares in the second quarter, as reported in their recent Form 13F filing with the SEC.
• Research analysts have increased their price targets for Ulta Beauty, with DA Davidson raising its price objective from $585 to $625, indicating a generally positive outlook for the company's stock.
• Ulta Beauty's latest earnings report showed an EPS of $5.78, surpassing analyst estimates, and a revenue growth of 9.3% year-over-year, totaling $2.79 billion for the quarter.

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 469 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the first quarter worth $37,000. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 193.8% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,738 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,004,000 after purchasing an additional 1,806 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 707 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty during the 1st quarter valued at about $357,000. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 34.9% during the 1st quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 2,649 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $971,000 after buying an additional 686 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of the company'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 of the company's stock, valued at $1,195,837.09. This represents a 18.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ULTA shares. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $525.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Argus upgraded Ulta Beauty from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $570.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $544.20.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of ULTA opened at $556.45 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.95 billion, a PE ratio of 21.34, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.08. The company's 50 day moving average price is $523.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $458.44. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 52 week low of $309.01 and a 52 week high of $562.11.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $5.78 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.30 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast 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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