First Foundation Advisors Raises Stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

First Foundation Advisors raised its stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 51.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,118 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 4,121 shares during the quarter. First Foundation Advisors’ holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $5,270,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter valued at $239,432,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter valued at $58,074,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 364.6% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $54,884,000 after purchasing an additional 90,972 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edge Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on ULTA. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $467.00 to $404.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. B. Riley decreased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $430.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Ulta Beauty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $384.00 to $423.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $405.00 to $365.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $427.61.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock opened at $351.32 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $362.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $384.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.16. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $309.01 and a fifty-two week high of $460.00.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.47 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $8.08 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total transaction of $332,982.32. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,817,429.12. This trade represents a 10.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by 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.