Avalon Trust Co Has $3.53 Million Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Avalon Trust Co reduced its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 77.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,120 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 28,210 shares during the quarter. Avalon Trust Co’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $3,532,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 166 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the 3rd quarter worth about $4,480,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 382.5% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 10,698 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,163,000 after acquiring an additional 8,481 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,531 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,822,000 after acquiring an additional 1,768 shares during the period. Finally, Blueshift Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 1,052.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC now owns 8,218 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,198,000 after acquiring an additional 7,505 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ulta Beauty Trading Up 13.7 %

NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $357.48 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.58 billion, a PE ratio of 14.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.34. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $385.01 and its 200 day moving average is $386.80. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 12 month low of $309.01 and a 12 month high of $544.36.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $480.00 to $475.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. B. Riley cut their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $430.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Loop Capital increased their price objective 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, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $538.00 to $526.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $431.13.

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.