Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Reduces Stake in Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. lowered its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,454 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 2,508 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $10,032,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 3.0% in the second quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 834 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management now owns 375 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $175,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC now owns 1,673 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $626,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional increased its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 424 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $198,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $595.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, August 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $550.38.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

ULTA opened at $529.34 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.05. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a one year low of $309.01 and a one year high of $572.23. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $531.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $492.44.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $5.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.43, for a total transaction of $264,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,195,837.09. This trade represents a 18.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Company 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.