Griffin Asset Management Inc. Trims Holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Griffin Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 0.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,364 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 68 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $4,422,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ULTA. BDF Gestion purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,237,000. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 33.9% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 321,605 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $125,143,000 after buying an additional 81,414 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 83.7% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 14,774 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,749,000 after buying an additional 6,730 shares in the last quarter. Elk River Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 1.1% during the third quarter. Elk River Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,229 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,813,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Paladin Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA opened at $369.49 on Wednesday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 12-month low of $318.17 and a 12-month high of $574.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $371.05 and a 200 day moving average of $388.66.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.47 by ($0.17). Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 54.02% and a net margin of 10.68%. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.02 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.21 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ULTA has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price target on Ulta Beauty from $550.00 to $505.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $525.00 to $485.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $440.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $300.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $423.67.

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.