Meridian Management Co. Purchases 239 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Meridian Management Co. raised its position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 2.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,316 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the quarter. Ulta Beauty makes up 1.2% of Meridian Management Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Meridian Management Co.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $4,792,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 83.3% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 66 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Paladin Wealth LLC bought a new position in Ulta Beauty in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the second quarter worth about $36,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ULTA shares. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Ulta Beauty from $520.00 to $450.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $440.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $522.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $420.71.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $380.54 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.33. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1-year low of $318.17 and a 1-year high of $574.76. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $378.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $379.82.

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 firm had revenue of $2.55 billion for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.02 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.