Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA Shares Sold by HBW Advisory Services LLC

Key Points

• HBW Advisory Services LLC decreased its stake in Ulta Beauty Inc. by 16.0% during the second quarter, now holding 5,217 shares valued at approximately $2.44 million.
• In recent trading, Ulta Beauty had a quarterly revenue increase of 9.3% year-over-year, reporting earnings of $5.78 EPS which exceeded expectations by $0.75.
• Brokerages have recently raised their price targets for Ulta Beauty, with Barclays updating theirs to $617.00 and UBS raising it to $680.00, reflecting a positive outlook on the company's performance.

HBW Advisory Services LLC lowered its position in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 16.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,217 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 991 shares during the quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $2,441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 218.5% in the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 86 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 71.4% in the 1st quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 96 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of the company'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 owned 2,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,195,837.09. This represents a 18.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ ULTA opened at $514.62 on Friday. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 52 week low of $309.01 and a 52 week high of $539.00. The stock has a market cap of $23.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $509.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $437.35.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.30 EPS. Ulta Beauty's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ULTA. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $589.00 to $617.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $605.00 price objective (up previously from $580.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $543.13.

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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