Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,627 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 1,174 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $6,362,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ULTA. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,199,935 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $520,587,000 after acquiring an additional 11,205 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $239,432,000. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 450,239 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $186,912,000 after purchasing an additional 74,013 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 319,938 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $139,151,000 after purchasing an additional 12,273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summitry LLC increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 216,671 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $94,237,000 after buying an additional 5,137 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 7,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,817,429.12. The trade was a 10.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ULTA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $445.00 to $327.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $384.00 to $423.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $405.00 to $365.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $400.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $427.61.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Ulta Beauty stock traded up $6.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $361.46. The stock had a trading volume of 943,145 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,056,814. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a one year low of $309.01 and a one year high of $460.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $360.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $383.45. The company has a market capitalization of $16.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.46, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.16.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.13 by $1.33. The firm 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 business'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 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.