Empowered Funds LLC Sells 12,585 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Empowered Funds LLC cut its position in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 32.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 26,324 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 12,585 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $10,243,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Choreo LLC boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 71.7% during the 2nd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 2,868 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,198 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 2nd quarter valued at about $19,136,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 2,778 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 17.9% during the third quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,330 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,409,000 after acquiring an additional 1,720 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Distillate Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the second quarter valued at approximately $14,665,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ULTA. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $390.00 to $380.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $520.00 to $450.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. B. Riley started coverage on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $300.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $435.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $525.00 to $485.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $420.71.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock opened at $365.17 on Friday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1 year low of $318.17 and a 1 year high of $574.76. The stock has a market cap of $17.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.65, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $380.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $379.36.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.47 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.61 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 54.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.02 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.07 earnings per share for the current year.

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.