SFE Investment Counsel Grows Stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

SFE Investment Counsel grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 36.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,006 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,883 shares during the period. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $3,047,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 118.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 151.5% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

ULTA opened at $373.12 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $416.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $386.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.93, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.28. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $318.17 and a fifty-two week high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.69. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.07 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ulta Beauty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley raised Ulta Beauty from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $430.00 to $500.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $459.22.

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.