California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 8,373 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 8.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 93,847 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 8,373 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.19% of Ulta Beauty worth $45,984,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 56.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,538,533 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $614,568,000 after acquiring an additional 556,809 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 575,658 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $229,947,000 after purchasing an additional 21,828 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 570,913 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $228,051,000 after purchasing an additional 33,508 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 86.5% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 342,547 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $136,451,000 after acquiring an additional 158,897 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 293,126 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $117,089,000 after purchasing an additional 40,166 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $656.00 to $635.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $574.00 to $627.00 in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $630.00 to $610.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $485.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $556.52.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

NASDAQ ULTA opened at $406.39 on Friday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 12 month low of $368.02 and a 12 month high of $574.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.60, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $500.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $468.35.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.49 by $0.59. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 61.64%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.68 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.55 EPS for the current year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 14th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty retailer to repurchase up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total transaction of $1,629,325.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,420,801.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total value of $263,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $876,222.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total transaction of $1,629,325.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,326 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ulta Beauty 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.