Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Raises Stake in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 36.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 161,180 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 43,045 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.36% of Ulta Beauty worth $59,079,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ULTA. Capital World Investors purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $430,674,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth approximately $239,432,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 10,336.7% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 459,110 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $199,681,000 after buying an additional 454,711 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 38,770.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 443,513 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $162,565,000 after purchasing an additional 442,372 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth about $73,780,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company's stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA traded up $5.45 during trading on Thursday, reaching $513.55. The stock had a trading volume of 589,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 618,697. The company has a market cap of $23.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.06, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.08. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $309.01 and a fifty-two week high of $514.34. The business's 50-day moving average price is $462.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $407.32.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The specialty retailer reported $6.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.73 by $0.97. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 49.73%. The company had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.47 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ULTA has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $477.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $460.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $440.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set 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 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $364.00 to $386.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $465.04.

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.