Capital World Investors Acquires New Shares in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Capital World Investors bought a new position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 990,215 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $430,674,000. Capital World Investors owned approximately 2.14% of Ulta Beauty as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 151.5% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock traded down $0.93 on Wednesday, reaching $377.74. 649,535 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,055,702. The company has a 50 day moving average of $357.37 and a 200 day moving average of $382.25. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 52 week low of $309.01 and a 52 week high of $460.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.12 billion, a PE ratio of 15.12, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.16.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.13 by $1.33. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The business had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $8.08 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 7,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,817,429.12. The trade was a 10.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ULTA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America cut their target price on 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 increased their target price for the company from $384.00 to $423.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Argus downgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $400.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Citigroup lowered 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 note on Monday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $427.61.

Ulta Beauty Company 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.