Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Sold by Wealth Alliance

Wealth Alliance cut its position in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 25.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 513 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 172 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the third quarter valued at $359,480,000. Holocene Advisors LP grew its stake in Ulta Beauty by 3,246.2% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 346,262 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $134,737,000 after acquiring an additional 335,914 shares during the last quarter. Atreides Management LP purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the 3rd quarter valued at about $73,069,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 258.3% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 126,190 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $54,884,000 after purchasing an additional 90,972 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 33.9% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 321,605 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $125,143,000 after buying an additional 81,414 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $361.54 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $408.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $386.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.47, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.28. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1 year low of $318.17 and a 1 year high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.69. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The company 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 for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ULTA shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $385.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. B. Riley raised shares of Ulta Beauty from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $330.00 to $430.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Finally, William Blair cut shares of Ulta Beauty from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. One research 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $459.22.

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.