Short Interest in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Rises By 19.4%

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) was the target of a large increase in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,460,000 shares, an increase of 19.4% from the October 15th total of 2,060,000 shares. Approximately 5.2% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,300,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

ULTA stock opened at $365.17 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $380.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $379.67. The company has a market capitalization of $17.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.33. Ulta Beauty has a 12 month low of $318.17 and a 12 month high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly 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). Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 54.02% and a net margin of 10.68%. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.61 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.02 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty will post 23.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ulta Beauty

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Choreo LLC boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 71.7% during the second quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 2,868 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,103,000 after buying an additional 1,198 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty during the second quarter worth $19,136,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 5.3% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 2,778 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,072,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Jensen Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 17.9% during the third quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,330 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,409,000 after acquiring an additional 1,720 shares during the period. Finally, Distillate Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty during the second quarter worth $14,665,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ULTA shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target 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. B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $300.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 28th. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $520.00 to $450.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $435.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $420.71.

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.