Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Acquired by Champlain Investment Partners LLC

Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 610,400 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,540 shares during the period. Ulta Beauty makes up about 1.4% of Champlain Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Champlain Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $237,519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 83.3% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 66 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Paladin Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on ULTA. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $412.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Ulta Beauty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $472.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $525.00 to $485.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $435.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $420.71.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

ULTA stock opened at $338.38 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $376.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $377.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.58, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.33. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $318.17 and a fifty-two week high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.47 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.61 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 54.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.02 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty Company 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.