Trexquant Investment LP Acquires New Stake in Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP has acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty Inc., purchasing 26,418 shares valued at approximately $9.68 million, indicating growing institutional interest in the company.
• Ulta Beauty reported a strong quarterly performance, with earnings per share of $5.78, exceeding estimates, and a revenue of $2.79 billion, representing a 9.3% year-over-year increase.
• Several equity research analysts have raised their price targets for Ulta Beauty, with JPMorgan Chase setting its target at $600 and UBS Group raising theirs to $680, reflecting positive market sentiment.

Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 26,418 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $9,683,000. Trexquant Investment LP owned approximately 0.06% of Ulta Beauty at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 218.5% during the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 86 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 71.4% during the first quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 96 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Trading Up 8.1%

NASDAQ ULTA traded up $39.79 on Tuesday, reaching $532.52. 2,198,905 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 893,628. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $309.01 and a fifty-two week high of $538.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.06. The business's fifty day moving average price is $499.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $428.49.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $5.78 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.30 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group raised their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $510.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $536.75.

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.