Benjamin Edwards Inc. Cuts Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lessened its holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 14.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 626 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 104 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $272,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ULTA. Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $430,674,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $239,432,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 10,336.7% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 459,110 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $199,681,000 after buying an additional 454,711 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,074,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 364.6% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 159,053 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $69,177,000 after buying an additional 124,822 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 7,632 shares in the company, 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 is available at the SEC website. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 1.3%

NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $393.17 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $364.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $384.36. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 52 week low of $309.01 and a 52 week high of $460.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.06.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $8.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered 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. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Ulta Beauty from $467.00 to $404.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $415.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $427.17.

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.