Norges Bank Takes $258.79 Million Position in Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Norges Bank bought a new position in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 553,184 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $258,791,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 167.8% in the second quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 4,513 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,111,000 after buying an additional 2,828 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 2nd quarter worth $395,000. Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the second quarter worth $306,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the second quarter valued at $262,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 14.7% during the second quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 4,051 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

NASDAQ ULTA opened at $540.38 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $530.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $502.24. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 52-week low of $309.01 and a 52-week high of $572.23.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $5.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.03 by $0.75. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.31% and a return on equity of 48.78%. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.30 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In related news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 2,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,195,837.09. This trade represents a 18.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ULTA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $589.00 to $617.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $530.00 to $584.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. One 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus 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.