Scotia Capital Inc. Reduces Holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Scotia Capital Inc. cut its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 37.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,940 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 4,198 shares during the quarter. Scotia Capital Inc.'s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $3,021,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth $239,432,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter valued at $58,074,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 364.6% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 159,053 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $69,177,000 after acquiring an additional 124,822 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 258.3% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 126,190 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $54,884,000 after purchasing an additional 90,972 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edge Capital Group LLC bought a new position in Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock traded down $8.16 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $358.09. The company had a trading volume of 658,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,057,893. The firm has a market cap of $16.22 billion, a PE ratio of 14.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.16. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a one year low of $309.01 and a one year high of $460.00. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $358.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $382.86.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the company'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 value of $332,982.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,632 shares of the company's stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ULTA shares. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $405.00 to $365.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Ulta Beauty from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $384.00 to $423.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Ulta Beauty from $480.00 to $475.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. B. Riley dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $460.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average 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.