Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 4,952 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 40,242 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,952 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $17,502,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ULTA. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 121.4% in the fourth quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 118.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 151.5% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total value of $332,982.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,817,429.12. This represents a 10.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ULTA. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $445.00 to $327.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Ulta Beauty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $384.00 to $423.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $538.00 to $526.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, B. Riley decreased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $430.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $427.61.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA opened at $342.93 on Tuesday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $309.01 and a fifty-two week high of $460.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $367.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $385.35.

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