Wedbush Securities Inc. Sells 131 Shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Wedbush Securities Inc. lowered its position in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,918 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 131 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $3,236,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 226.4% during the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 16,093 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $7,528,000 after purchasing an additional 11,162 shares during the period. Twin Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,422 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,601,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. SouthState Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 9,180 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,295,000 after buying an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 16,101 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $7,508,000 after buying an additional 948 shares during the period. Finally, Convergence Financial LLC grew its stake in Ulta Beauty by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Convergence Financial LLC now owns 3,258 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,524,000 after buying an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA opened at $517.79 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $530.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $487.40. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a twelve month low of $309.01 and a twelve month high of $572.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.05.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $5.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.03 by $0.75. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during 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%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $510.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $589.00 to $617.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $550.38.

Insider Transactions at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.