Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Invests $219,000 in Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 469 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ULTA. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the first quarter worth about $37,000. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 193.8% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,738 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,004,000 after acquiring an additional 1,806 shares in the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 707 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the first quarter worth approximately $357,000. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 34.9% during the first quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 2,649 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $971,000 after purchasing an additional 686 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 0.2%

ULTA opened at $556.45 on Monday. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 1-year low of $309.01 and a 1-year high of $562.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.95 billion, a PE ratio of 21.34, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $523.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $458.44.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $5.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.03 by $0.75. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.31% and a return on equity of 48.78%. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.30 earnings per share. Ulta Beauty’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In other news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.43, for a total transaction of $264,215.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,195,837.09. This represents a 18.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ULTA shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $510.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $595.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on Ulta Beauty in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $590.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $544.20.

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.