Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA Shares Purchased by Advisors Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ulta Beauty Inc. by 18.5%, acquiring an additional 6,441 shares, bringing their total holdings to 41,184 shares valued at approximately $15 million.
• Several other hedge funds also increased their positions in Ulta Beauty, with Mirae Asset Global Investments boosting its stake by 17.9% and Farther Finance Advisors raising theirs by 128.9% during the same period.
• Wall Street analysts are optimistic about Ulta Beauty's stock, with multiple firms raising their price targets; the average consensus price stands at $543.13, and the company reported a strong quarterly earnings performance significantly above analysts' expectations.

Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 18.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 41,184 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 6,441 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Ulta Beauty worth $15,096,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 17.9% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,092 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,190,000 after acquiring an additional 924 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 14.8% during the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,179 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $435,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the first quarter worth approximately $201,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 128.9% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 737 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kaufman Rossin Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the first quarter worth approximately $250,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ULTA shares. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $605.00 price target (up previously from $580.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $530.00 to $584.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. One equities research 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 issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $543.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.43, for a total transaction of $264,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,263 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,195,837.09. This trade represents a 18.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Ulta Beauty Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of ULTA stock opened at $521.89 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $508.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $436.33. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 52 week low of $309.01 and a 52 week high of $539.00. The company has a market cap of $23.40 billion, a PE ratio of 20.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.06.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last issued 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 net margin of 10.31% and a return on equity of 48.78%. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.30 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

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