Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Trims Stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lessened its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 50.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 456,467 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 467,361 shares during the period. Ulta Beauty comprises approximately 2.4% of Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board owned 0.98% of Ulta Beauty worth $198,531,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 665 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. RWA Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,867 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $812,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 6,623 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,881,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,576 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $685,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 121.4% in the 4th quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ULTA shares. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Monday, March 10th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Ulta Beauty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $384.00 to $423.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $405.00 to $365.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $427.61.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of ULTA opened at $366.25 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $359.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $383.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.66, a PEG 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.13 by $1.33. The business had revenue of $3.49 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $8.08 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 10.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

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.