Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Increases Stock Position in Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 21.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,001 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Mufg Securities Americas Inc.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $468,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 17.7% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 153 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 834 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 6.8% during the second quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management now owns 375 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.3% during the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 9,411 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,403,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Wambolt & Associates LLC increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC now owns 1,673 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $626,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock opened at $514.59 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $529.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $498.70. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 1-year low of $309.01 and a 1-year high of $572.23.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.66 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.31% and a return on equity of 48.78%. Ulta Beauty’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current year.

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 on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.43, for a total value of $264,215.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ULTA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $595.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $605.00 target price (up from $580.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $550.38.

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.