Mariner LLC Has $2.68 Million Stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Mariner LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 14.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,170 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 759 shares during the quarter. Mariner LLC's holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $2,684,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 166 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 199.5% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 4,646 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,021,000 after buying an additional 3,095 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 3,973 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,663,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the period. Buckhead Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 12,088 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $5,257,000 after acquiring an additional 1,633 shares during the period. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter worth $348,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $400.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $364.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. B. Riley lowered their price target on Ulta Beauty from $430.00 to $330.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $467.00 to $404.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $460.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $427.61.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In related news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total value of $332,982.32. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,632 shares in the company, valued at $2,817,429.12. This represents a 10.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of ULTA stock traded down $2.26 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $383.67. 594,332 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,053,940. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 52 week low of $309.01 and a 52 week high of $460.00. The stock has a market cap of $17.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.16. The stock's 50-day moving average is $358.34 and its 200-day moving average is $382.46.

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