Prudential Financial Inc. Has $28.26 Million Stock Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Prudential Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 91.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 64,985 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,962 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $28,264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. 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 purchasing an additional 335,914 shares during the period. Atreides Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the third quarter worth $73,069,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter valued at $58,074,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 364.6% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 159,053 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $69,177,000 after buying an additional 124,822 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 258.3% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 126,190 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $54,884,000 after acquiring an additional 90,972 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Ulta Beauty stock opened at $370.75 on Wednesday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $309.01 and a fifty-two week high of $529.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $376.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $386.59. The firm has a market cap of $17.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.34.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ULTA shares. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $538.00 to $526.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $360.00 to $310.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $405.00 to $365.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, B. Riley reduced their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $430.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $427.13.

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.