Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Increases Stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 24.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,907 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 1,977 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $3,855,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 83.3% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 66 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the first quarter worth $31,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Paladin Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty during the second quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ULTA shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $525.00 to $485.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $426.00 to $424.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $412.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $380.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $420.71.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of ULTA traded down $17.60 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $365.17. 1,440,970 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 962,623. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a twelve month low of $318.17 and a twelve month high of $574.76. The company has a market capitalization of $17.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.65, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.33. The business's 50-day moving average price is $380.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $379.36.

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

About Ulta Beauty

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.