Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Sold by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lowered its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,268 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 255 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $7,945,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 180,713.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,238,569 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $481,952,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237,884 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,188,730 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $461,059,000 after acquiring an additional 10,153 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the 3rd quarter valued at $359,480,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 610,400 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $237,519,000 after acquiring an additional 31,540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 3,246.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of ULTA stock opened at $368.75 on Wednesday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1-year low of $318.17 and a 1-year high of $574.76. The company has a market capitalization of $17.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $413.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $386.55.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Ulta Beauty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $538.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $470.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Ulta Beauty from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $430.00 to $500.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, 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.