Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA Shares Purchased by Park Avenue Securities LLC

Key Points

• Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 50.8% during the second quarter, acquiring a total of 2,358 shares valued at approximately $1.1 million.
• Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of Ulta for about $264,215, reducing his ownership by 18.1% to 2,263 shares.
• Ulta Beauty reported an earnings per share of $5.78 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations by $0.75, with revenue of $2.79 billion, up 9.3% year-over-year.

Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 50.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,358 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 794 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $1,103,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 834 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Wambolt & Associates LLC increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC now owns 1,673 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $626,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 32.5% during the 1st quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 110 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 4.3% during 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 during the period. Finally, Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 625 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.43, for a total value of $264,215.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,263 shares in the company, valued at $1,195,837.09. This trade represents a 18.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Cowen reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Argus raised shares of Ulta Beauty from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $570.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $589.00 to $617.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $544.20.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of ULTA opened at $552.00 on Friday. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a one year low of $309.01 and a one year high of $552.45. The company has a 50-day moving average of $519.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $449.46. The stock has a market cap of $24.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.17, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.06.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $5.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $2.66 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.30 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current 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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