Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Grows Stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 382.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,698 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,481 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $4,163,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Choreo LLC boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 71.7% during the second quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 2,868 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after buying an additional 1,198 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 2nd quarter valued at $19,136,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 5.3% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 2,778 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,072,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Jensen Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 17.9% during the third quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,330 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,409,000 after purchasing an additional 1,720 shares during the period. Finally, Distillate Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the second quarter worth about $14,665,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of ULTA opened at $338.38 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $376.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $377.22. The firm has a market cap of $15.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.58, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.33. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 12 month low of $318.17 and a 12 month high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.61 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 54.02% and a net margin of 10.68%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.02 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.07 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ULTA. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target 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. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $328.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. William Blair cut Ulta Beauty from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. 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 research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $507.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.