Vanguard Group Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,483,095 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 100,009 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 11.82% of Ulta Beauty worth $2,384,763,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ULTA. Holocene Advisors LP raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 3,246.2% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 346,262 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $134,737,000 after buying an additional 335,914 shares in the last quarter. Atreides Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 3rd quarter valued at about $73,069,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth about $58,074,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 364.6% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 159,053 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $69,177,000 after purchasing an additional 124,822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 258.3% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 126,190 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $54,884,000 after purchasing an additional 90,972 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of ULTA stock traded down $10.87 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $359.47. 1,053,364 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,061,261. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $373.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $386.31. The firm has a market cap of $16.67 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.34. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1-year low of $309.01 and a 1-year high of $529.67.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.08 earnings per share. Ulta Beauty's revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ULTA shares. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America cut their target price on Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $380.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $360.00 to $310.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $427.13.

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.