Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 93.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 689 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 9,758 shares during the quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $300,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. Paladin Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 118.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 151.5% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty during the third quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ULTA traded up $9.24 on Thursday, hitting $419.90. 123,314 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 768,628. The company has a market cap of $19.47 billion, a PE ratio of 16.82, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $411.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $385.75. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 52 week low of $318.17 and a 52 week high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.69. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.07 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ULTA shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $472.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ulta Beauty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $459.22.

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.