Zacks Investment Management Reduces Stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Zacks Investment Management lessened its stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 84.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 826 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 4,549 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 25,916 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $10,084,000 after purchasing an additional 7,524 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 284.1% during the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,796 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,088,000 after acquiring an additional 2,068 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,635 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,193,000 after acquiring an additional 710 shares during the period. Wahed Invest LLC raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $451,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 3rd quarter valued at about $863,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA opened at $411.92 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $374.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $376.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.48, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.33. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 52-week low of $318.17 and a 52-week high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.69. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 51.95% and a net margin of 10.58%. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.07 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.48 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their target price on Ulta Beauty from $335.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Ulta Beauty from $390.00 to $380.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Raymond James cut their price target on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $440.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup upped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $390.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Loop Capital upped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $439.30.

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.