National Bank of Canada FI Purchases 149,945 Shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Key Points

• The National Bank of Canada FI significantly increased its stake in Ulta Beauty Inc. by 616.6% during the first quarter, owning approximately 0.39% of the company worth about $63.87 million.
• Ulta Beauty reported earnings of $6.70 per share for the recent quarter, surpassing analyst estimates of $5.73, with a revenue of $2.85 billion against expectations of $2.79 billion.
• Analysts have varying price targets for Ulta Beauty, with Loop Capital setting a price target of $510.00 while Wells Fargo raised theirs from $315.00 to $350.00, indicating a mix of investment sentiment.

National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 616.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 174,264 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 149,945 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.39% of Ulta Beauty worth $63,874,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 218.5% in the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 86 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 71.4% during the 1st quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 96 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ULTA shares. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $465.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Barclays raised their price target on Ulta Beauty from $327.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price objective (up previously from $450.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $364.00 to $386.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $469.09.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ULTA traded up $0.49 during trading on Monday, hitting $498.70. The company had a trading volume of 446,841 shares, compared to its average volume of 551,558. The stock has a market cap of $22.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $483.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $414.83. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a one year low of $309.01 and a one year high of $523.68.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The specialty retailer reported $6.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.73 by $0.97. The company had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 49.73% and a net margin of 10.45%. Ulta Beauty's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.47 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current year.

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.