Truist Financial Corp Trims Stock Holdings in Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Truist Financial Corp decreased its holdings in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,717 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 379 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $6,417,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ULTA. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Procyon Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 4.3% in the first quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 707 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the first quarter valued at $357,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 34.9% in the first quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 2,649 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $971,000 after purchasing an additional 686 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 15.8% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 1,564 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $573,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Trading Up 1.9%

ULTA opened at $566.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.74, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $524.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $459.95. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 12-month low of $309.01 and a 12-month high of $567.98.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $5.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.03 by $0.75. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 48.78% and a net margin of 10.31%.Ulta Beauty’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.30 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.43, for a total value of $264,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,195,837.09. This represents a 18.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on ULTA. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $510.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Argus upgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $570.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $544.20.

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.