Swedbank AB Increases Stock Holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Swedbank AB increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 33.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 321,605 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 81,414 shares during the period. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $125,143,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 83.3% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 66 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Paladin Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock opened at $338.38 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $376.80 and a 200 day moving average of $377.30. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 12 month low of $318.17 and a 12 month high of $574.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on ULTA. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Loop Capital cut their target price on Ulta Beauty from $520.00 to $450.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. TD Cowen cut their target price on Ulta Beauty from $390.00 to $380.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on Ulta Beauty from $522.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $420.71.

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.