Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Acquires 2,160 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 32,255 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 2,160 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina owned 0.07% of Ulta Beauty worth $14,029,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 166 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 199.5% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 4,646 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $2,021,000 after acquiring an additional 3,095 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 3,973 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,663,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Buckhead Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 12,088 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $5,257,000 after acquiring an additional 1,633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management bought a new position in Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $348,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ULTA shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $400.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Argus lowered shares of Ulta Beauty from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. DA Davidson decreased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $510.00 to $415.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $380.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Ulta Beauty from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $384.00 to $423.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $427.61.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA traded down $8.16 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $358.09. The company had a trading volume of 658,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,057,893. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a one year low of $309.01 and a one year high of $460.00. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $358.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $382.86. The stock 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 (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $8.08 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current 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 that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total value of $332,982.32. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,817,429.12. This trade represents a 10.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.