Candriam S.C.A. Trims Stock Holdings in Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Key Points

• Candriam S.C.A. reduced its stake in Ulta Beauty Inc. by 42.4% during Q1, now holding 5,502 shares worth approximately $2,017,000.
• Recent analyst ratings show an overall positive outlook, with thirteen analysts recommending a "Buy" rating and price targets rising up to $589.00.
• Ulta Beauty reported strong quarterly earnings with $6.70 EPS, exceeding expectations, and a revenue of $2.85 billion, up 4.5% from the previous year.

Candriam S.C.A. trimmed its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 42.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,502 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 4,052 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.'s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $2,017,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 65.5% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,918 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $834,000 after acquiring an additional 759 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 102.5% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 66,319 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $28,844,000 after acquiring an additional 33,564 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 33.0% in the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 11,553 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $5,025,000 after acquiring an additional 2,868 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,430 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,492,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $22,351,000. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company's stock.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

ULTA traded down $3.05 on Thursday, hitting $530.76. The company had a trading volume of 814,488 shares, compared to its average volume of 868,213. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $497.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $424.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.12. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 52-week low of $309.01 and a 52-week high of $538.59.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.73 by $0.97. The company had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.79 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 49.73%. Ulta Beauty's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.47 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ULTA shares. Loop Capital reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $510.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, July 25th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $364.00 to $386.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $520.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $525.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $498.88.

Ulta Beauty Company 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.