Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,483,095 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 100,009 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 11.82% of Ulta Beauty worth $2,384,763,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ULTA. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 665 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Stonegate Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 6,623 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,881,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,576 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $685,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 832 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 861 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ULTA. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $405.00 to $365.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $400.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $427.13.

Ulta Beauty Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $371.90 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $17.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.34. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a twelve month low of $309.01 and a twelve month high of $529.67. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $375.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $386.48.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.13 by $1.33. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The business had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.47 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $8.08 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current 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.