Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Trims Stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lessened its stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 46.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,280 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 7,257 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $3,020,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 83.3% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 66 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Paladin Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Oakworth Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the second quarter worth $36,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the second quarter valued at $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company's stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

NASDAQ ULTA traded down $6.09 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $411.92. 845,903 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 983,732. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $374.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $376.92. The stock has a market cap of $19.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.33. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1 year low of $318.17 and a 1 year high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.07 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $470.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $335.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $430.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. DA Davidson upped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $435.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $426.00 to $424.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $439.30.

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.