Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Lowers Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund decreased its position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,123 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 227 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned about 0.07% of Ulta Beauty worth $13,971,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ULTA. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,188,730 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $461,059,000 after purchasing an additional 10,153 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the third quarter valued at about $359,480,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 5.4% in the third quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 610,400 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $237,519,000 after purchasing an additional 31,540 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 3,246.2% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 346,262 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $134,737,000 after purchasing an additional 335,914 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 33.9% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 321,605 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $125,143,000 after purchasing an additional 81,414 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Ulta Beauty stock opened at $365.70 on Wednesday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1 year low of $318.17 and a 1 year high of $574.76. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $406.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $388.11. The company has a market cap of $16.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.63, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.28.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.69. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.07 earnings per share. Ulta Beauty’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ULTA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $470.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $472.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $538.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $435.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $459.22.

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.