Simmons Bank Raises Stock Holdings in Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Simmons Bank grew its stake in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,890 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the quarter. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $2,755,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 142.9% during the second quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the first quarter worth about $36,000. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the first quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 178.4% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 103 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ULTA shares. UBS Group increased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Bank of America increased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Argus upgraded Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $570.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 25th. One investment 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 issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $550.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was 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 approximately $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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

ULTA stock opened at $516.66 on Wednesday. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 1 year low of $309.01 and a 1 year high of $572.23. The firm has a market cap of $23.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $530.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $485.93.

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. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 48.78% and a net margin of 10.31%.The business had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current year.

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.