Magnetar Financial LLC Invests $3.42 Million in Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,302 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,416,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ULTA. Hemington Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 142.9% during the 2nd quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the first quarter worth $36,000. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty during the first quarter worth $37,000. MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty during the second quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Ulta Beauty in the second quarter valued at $52,000. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ULTA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $589.00 to $617.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $530.00 to $584.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ulta Beauty from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $650.00 to $653.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $550.38.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 3.9%

NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $515.58 on Friday. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 12-month low of $309.01 and a 12-month high of $572.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $530.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $497.07.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued 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. The company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.30 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In other news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of the 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 transaction, the director directly owned 2,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,195,837.09. This represents a 18.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.