Short Interest in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Expands By 308,233.3%

Key Points

• Ulta Beauty's short interest surged by 308,233.3% in July, reaching a total of 1,850,000 shares, indicating heightened speculation against the stock.
• Institutional ownership is strong, with 90.39% of Ulta Beauty's stock held by institutional investors and hedge funds, reflecting confidence in the company’s performance.
• Analysts have given mixed ratings for Ulta Beauty, with thirteen buy ratings, twelve holds, and one sell, while the average target price stands at $466.57.

Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 1,850,000 shares, anincreaseof308,233.3% from the June 30th total of 600 shares. Approximately4.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 765,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 765,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days. Approximately4.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 17.7% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 153 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 3.0% in the second quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 834 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 6.8% in the second quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management now owns 375 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 1.6% in the first quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC now owns 1,673 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $626,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 32.5% in the first quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 110 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on ULTA shares. Barclays lifted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $327.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Loop Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $510.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $477.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $437.00 price target (up previously from $386.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $364.00 to $386.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $466.57.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

ULTA traded down $7.92 during trading on Friday, reaching $507.09. 235,173 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 895,784. Ulta Beauty has a 1 year low of $309.01 and a 1 year high of $523.68. The company has a market capitalization of $22.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.08. The business's 50 day moving average price is $473.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $410.77.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The specialty retailer reported $6.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.73 by $0.97. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 49.73% and a net margin of 10.45%. The company had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.47 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty will post 23.96 EPS for the current year.

About Ulta Beauty

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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