Short Interest in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Decreases By 20.1%

by · The Cerbat Gem

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,300,000 shares, a decline of 20.1% from the September 15th total of 2,880,000 shares. Currently, 4.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,250,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ULTA. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 83.3% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 66 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Vima LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 490.0% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 59 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 3.2 %

ULTA traded up $11.62 on Friday, hitting $370.58. 1,220,927 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,157,170. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.46 billion, a PE ratio of 14.87, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a 50 day moving average of $369.35 and a 200-day moving average of $391.68. Ulta Beauty has a 12-month low of $318.17 and a 12-month high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.47 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $2.55 billion for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.02 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty will post 23.21 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on ULTA shares. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $356.00 target price (down from $404.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $435.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. B. Riley started coverage on Ulta Beauty in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $300.00 price objective for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $522.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $426.00 to $424.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $424.08.

Read Our Latest Report on Ulta Beauty

Ulta Beauty Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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