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

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 40.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,203 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 40,217 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.13% of Ulta Beauty worth $26,184,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ULTA. Jensen Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,330 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,409,000 after acquiring an additional 1,720 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $793,000. Stephens Inc. AR increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 31.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 16,014 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,231,000 after acquiring an additional 3,791 shares during the period. Chase Investment Counsel Corp increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 4,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,556,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Investment Consultants LLC acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,480,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on ULTA. UBS Group raised their target price on Ulta Beauty from $470.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ulta Beauty from $472.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $435.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Ulta Beauty from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $459.22.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock opened at $361.54 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $16.77 billion, a PE ratio of 14.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $408.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $386.66. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 12 month low of $318.17 and a 12 month high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.69. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 51.95% and a net margin of 10.58%. Ulta Beauty’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.07 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty 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.