Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Sold by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 56.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,629 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 3,415 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $1,143,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 121.4% during the fourth quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 36.9% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 115 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 60.0% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 144 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ULTA shares. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $415.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Ulta Beauty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $384.00 to $423.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $445.00 to $327.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $427.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total value of $332,982.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,817,429.12. This represents a 10.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

ULTA stock opened at $411.38 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $367.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $385.00. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $309.01 and a fifty-two week high of $460.00. The company has a market cap of $18.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.06.

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

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.