Headlands Technologies LLC Acquires 1,128 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 245.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,588 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,128 shares during the quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $613,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 14.1% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 620,793 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $239,545,000 after acquiring an additional 76,721 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $263,192,000. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 47.7% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 476,027 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $246,862,000 after purchasing an additional 153,727 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.2% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 357,503 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $186,933,000 after purchasing an additional 4,344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the first quarter worth $176,753,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ULTA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $530.00 to $544.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $385.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Ulta Beauty from $438.00 to $412.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $522.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $425.29.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock opened at $372.30 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $368.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $415.84. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 52-week low of $318.17 and a 52-week high of $574.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.76 billion, a PE ratio of 14.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.31.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.47 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.61 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 54.02%. The business’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.02 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

About Ulta Beauty

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.