Stephens Inc. AR Purchases 3,791 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Stephens Inc. AR lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 31.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,014 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 3,791 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR's holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $6,231,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its stake in Ulta Beauty by 26.6% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 827 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $432,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC increased its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 49.0% during the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 1,176 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $615,000 after buying an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 3.4% in the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,040 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $3,158,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty in the first quarter valued at about $209,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 30,249 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $15,817,000 after purchasing an additional 1,431 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ULTA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $435.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $522.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $550.00 to $505.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $420.71.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 2.3 %

NASDAQ:ULTA traded up $8.67 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $377.65. The company had a trading volume of 672,387 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,094,967. The company has a market capitalization of $17.79 billion, a PE ratio of 15.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 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. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $376.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $381.09.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $5.47 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.61 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 54.02% and a net margin of 10.68%. Ulta Beauty's revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.02 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.07 earnings per share for the current year.

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.