National Pension Service Reduces Holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

National Pension Service trimmed its stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 78,284 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,278 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $34,048,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 151.5% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of ULTA stock opened at $366.36 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $403.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $388.12. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 52 week low of $318.17 and a 52 week high of $574.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.99 billion, a PE ratio of 14.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ULTA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $470.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $390.00 to $394.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ulta Beauty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $538.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.