Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Has $7.98 Million Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lessened its stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 14.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,558 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 3,509 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $7,984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ULTA. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the first quarter valued at approximately $176,753,000. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 177.8% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 407,347 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $199,596,000 after purchasing an additional 260,740 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 210.4% during the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 271,550 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $141,988,000 after buying an additional 184,060 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 47.7% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 476,027 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $246,862,000 after buying an additional 153,727 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 148.5% in the fourth quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 226,121 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $110,797,000 after buying an additional 135,133 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $525.00 to $485.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $438.00 to $412.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Raymond James lowered shares of Ulta Beauty from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $500.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $356.00 target price (down from $404.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $435.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $425.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 650 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $388.68, for a total transaction of $252,642.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,643,412.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $388.68, for a total value of $252,642.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,801 shares in the company, valued at $2,643,412.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $390.08, for a total value of $39,008.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $786,791.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of ULTA stock opened at $402.01 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $368.01 and a 200-day moving average of $408.95. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a one year low of $318.17 and a one year high of $574.76. The company has a market cap of $19.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.31.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.47 by ($0.17). The firm 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.02 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.