Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Grows Holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 104.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 35,795 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 18,272 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.08% of Ulta Beauty worth $13,812,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ULTA. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in Ulta Beauty by 95.9% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 143 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth approximately $743,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 93.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 134,954 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $66,126,000 after acquiring an additional 65,225 shares during the last quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $897,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,227 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $601,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ulta Beauty

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $525.00 to $485.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $520.00 to $450.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $550.00 to $505.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $430.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $385.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $425.29.

Ulta Beauty Trading Up 3.8 %

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock opened at $381.57 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $369.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $417.39. The company has a market cap of $17.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.88, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.31. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 12-month low of $318.17 and a 12-month high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.47 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.61 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 54.02% and a net margin of 10.68%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.02 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.24 EPS 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.