Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Grows Stock Holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 32.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,137 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 8,937 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.08% of Ulta Beauty worth $15,717,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $239,432,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 10,336.7% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 459,110 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $199,681,000 after acquiring an additional 454,711 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth approximately $58,074,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 364.6% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 159,053 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $69,177,000 after purchasing an additional 124,822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 258.3% during 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 during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ULTA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $405.00 to $365.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $415.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ulta Beauty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $445.00 to $327.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $384.00 to $423.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $427.61.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Ulta Beauty stock traded up $8.19 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $385.93. 538,541 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,054,391. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $357.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $382.22. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 12-month low of $309.01 and a 12-month high of $460.00. The stock has a market cap of $17.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.16.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $7.13 by $1.33. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 51.95% and a net margin of 10.58%. The firm had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $8.08 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In related news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $2,817,429.12. This trade represents a 10.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.