Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA Stock Holdings Lessened by Metis Global Partners LLC

Metis Global Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 34.0% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,391 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,234 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $1,119,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 142.9% in the second quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 178.4% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 103 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Ulta Beauty during the 2nd quarter worth $52,000. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.43, for a total value of $264,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,263 shares in the company, valued at $1,195,837.09. This represents a 18.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of ULTA opened at $522.83 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.44 billion, a PE ratio of 20.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $530.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $490.84. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 52-week low of $309.01 and a 52-week high of $572.23.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Ulta Beauty from $650.00 to $653.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $595.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $550.38.

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.