Gries Financial LLC Makes New Investment in Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Gries Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 569 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $266,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of ULTA. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,092 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,190,000 after buying an additional 924 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 about $201,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 128.9% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 737 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the period. Finally, Kaufman Rossin Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter valued at about $250,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock opened at $524.60 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $23.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.06. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $309.01 and a fifty-two week high of $539.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $515.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $446.13.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $5.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.03 by $0.75. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 48.78% and a net margin of 10.31%.Ulta Beauty’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.30 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,195,837.09. The trade was a 18.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ULTA shares. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $595.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $589.00 to $617.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $543.13.

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.