Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Sold by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC cut its position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 30.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 255,557 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 111,105 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $111,147,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth $813,000. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 13,689 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $5,954,000 after buying an additional 1,239 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 92,172 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $40,089,000 after buying an additional 6,900 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 33.0% in the 4th quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 11,553 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,025,000 after acquiring an additional 2,868 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 222.7% during the 4th quarter. Natixis now owns 11,361 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,941,000 after acquiring an additional 7,840 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was 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 $2,817,429.12. This represents a 10.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on ULTA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Ulta Beauty from $480.00 to $475.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Argus lowered shares of Ulta Beauty from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $405.00 to $365.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $427.61.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $377.74 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $357.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $382.22. The stock has a market cap of $17.12 billion, a PE ratio of 15.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.16. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a one year low of $309.01 and a one year high of $460.00.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $8.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.