BDF Gestion Takes Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

BDF Gestion purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 5,750 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,237,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ULTA. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 83.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the first quarter worth $30,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 490.0% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 59 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price 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. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $375.00 to $345.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $328.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $385.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Two 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $423.67.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of ULTA traded down $0.59 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $368.73. 712,424 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 957,709. The company has a market capitalization of $17.37 billion, a PE ratio of 14.82, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $370.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $389.74. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a one year low of $318.17 and a one year high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.61 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 54.02% and a net margin of 10.68%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.02 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.21 EPS for the current year.

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.