Empowered Funds LLC Sells 20,639 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Empowered Funds LLC lessened its stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 78.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,685 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 20,639 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $2,473,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jensen Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,330 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $4,409,000 after purchasing an additional 1,720 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 3rd quarter valued at about $793,000. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 31.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 16,014 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $6,231,000 after purchasing an additional 3,791 shares during the period. Chase Investment Counsel Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 4,000 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,556,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Investment Consultants LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,480,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ULTA. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised Ulta Beauty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $385.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. William Blair downgraded Ulta Beauty from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $470.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $459.22.

Ulta Beauty Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA opened at $365.14 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $415.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $386.17. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1-year low of $318.17 and a 1-year high of $574.76. The firm has a market cap of $16.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.28.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.69. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 51.95% and a net margin of 10.58%. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.07 earnings per share. Ulta Beauty's revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 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.

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