Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Position Boosted by Sunbelt Securities Inc.

Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 118.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $32,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 4.7% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 627 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $244,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 83.3% in the 2nd 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 period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 3,495 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,349,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 6.8% in the second quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 521 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $201,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.8% during the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,826 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $705,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of ULTA stock opened at $424.11 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $19.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.97, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.32. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $318.17 and a fifty-two week high of $574.76. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $378.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $378.10.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.69. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.07 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.57 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ULTA. Loop Capital upped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. B. Riley upped their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Ulta Beauty from $426.00 to $424.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. William Blair downgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Ulta Beauty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 28th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $439.30.

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.