Avanza Fonder AB Purchases Shares of 4,376 Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,376 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $1,903,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ULTA. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 180,713.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,238,569 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $481,952,000 after buying an additional 1,237,884 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,188,730 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $461,059,000 after acquiring an additional 10,153 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the third quarter worth about $359,480,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 5.4% in the third quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 610,400 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $237,519,000 after purchasing an additional 31,540 shares during the period. Finally, Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 14.4% during the third quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt now owns 516,405 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $200,944,000 after purchasing an additional 65,000 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on ULTA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $472.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group raised their price target on Ulta Beauty from $470.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $435.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ulta Beauty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $460.30.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of ULTA traded down $8.32 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $405.01. 755,671 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 678,381. The company has a market capitalization of $18.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.21, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.28. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 52 week low of $318.17 and a 52 week high of $574.76. The company's 50 day moving average is $404.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $384.70.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.69. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.07 earnings per share. Ulta Beauty's revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.93 EPS for the current 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.