Monte Financial Group LLC Boosts Stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Monte Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 15.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,024 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 411 shares during the quarter. Monte Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $1,177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ULTA. Choreo LLC grew its stake in Ulta Beauty by 71.7% during the 2nd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 2,868 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,198 shares during the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 92.8% during the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 7,278 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,806,000 after purchasing an additional 3,504 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 10.2% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 89,799 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $46,954,000 after buying an additional 8,337 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $19,136,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 2,778 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,072,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of ULTA opened at $367.02 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $376.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $384.77. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a one year low of $318.17 and a one year high of $574.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.73, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.32.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $2.55 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.02 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $412.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Ulta Beauty from $525.00 to $485.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $328.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $472.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $420.71.

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.