GM Advisory Group LLC Trims Stock Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

GM Advisory Group LLC lowered its position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 42.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,008 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 3,740 shares during the period. GM Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $2,178,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1,271.4% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,440 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $622,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335 shares in the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth $366,000. Enhancing Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter valued at $625,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth $985,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 10,857 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $4,722,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company's stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

ULTA stock traded up $9.68 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $350.57. The company had a trading volume of 1,730,045 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,044,654. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $309.01 and a fifty-two week high of $529.67. The company has a market capitalization of $16.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $377.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $386.36.

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Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $8.08 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $405.00 to $365.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. StockNews.com raised Ulta Beauty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on Ulta Beauty from $538.00 to $526.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Barclays lowered their price target on Ulta Beauty from $445.00 to $327.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $427.13.

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.