Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Holdings Lifted by Sigma Planning Corp

Sigma Planning Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 49.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,159 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $451,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 610 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 3.4% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,269 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $664,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 7.1% in the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 711 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 35.0% during the 1st quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,098,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 729 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

ULTA stock opened at $365.17 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $380.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $379.67. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 52 week low of $318.17 and a 52 week high of $574.76. The stock has a market cap of $17.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.33.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.47 by ($0.17). Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 54.02%. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.61 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.02 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.07 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ULTA. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $520.00 to $450.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $328.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $375.00 to $345.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $426.00 to $424.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two equities 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $420.71.

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.