Stephens Inc. AR Has $7.81 Million Stock Holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Stephens Inc. AR lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 17,965 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,951 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $7,814,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Paladin Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 118.4% in the third 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 position in Ulta Beauty by 151.5% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty during the third quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 6.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $374.79 on Monday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a twelve month low of $318.17 and a twelve month high of $574.76. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $417.81 and its 200-day moving average is $386.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.00, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.28.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.69. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.07 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $440.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. William Blair downgraded Ulta Beauty from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $410.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average 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.