Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. Grows Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 8.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,627 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,174 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $6,362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ULTA. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 118.4% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 151.5% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Edge Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ULTA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $480.00 to $475.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Monday, March 10th. B. Riley dropped their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $430.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $510.00 to $415.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $427.61.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of ULTA opened at $359.36 on Monday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 52 week low of $309.01 and a 52 week high of $460.00. The firm has a market cap of $16.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.38, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $369.03 and a 200-day moving average of $385.77.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $8.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 value of $332,982.32. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,817,429.12. This trade represents a 10.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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.