Auxier Asset Management Raises Stock Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Auxier Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 27.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,168 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the quarter. Auxier Asset Management’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $454,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ULTA. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 180,713.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,238,569 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $481,952,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237,884 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $359,480,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 87.3% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 337,882 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $130,380,000 after acquiring an additional 157,497 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 47.7% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 476,027 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $246,862,000 after purchasing an additional 153,727 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 107.0% during the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 240,191 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $92,683,000 after purchasing an additional 124,164 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 4.1 %

ULTA stock opened at $375.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $17.68 billion, a PE ratio of 15.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.33. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 12-month low of $318.17 and a 12-month high of $574.76. The business has a 50 day moving average of $374.43 and a 200-day moving average of $376.67.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.47 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.61 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 54.02% and a net margin of 10.68%. Ulta Beauty’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.02 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on ULTA. BMO Capital Markets set a $385.00 price objective on Ulta Beauty in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. B. Riley started coverage on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $300.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group cut their price target on Ulta Beauty from $550.00 to $505.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $426.00 to $424.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, William Blair cut Ulta Beauty from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $422.58.

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.