Franklin Resources Inc. Grows Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 40,242 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 4,952 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Ulta Beauty worth $17,502,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,188,730 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $461,059,000 after acquiring an additional 10,153 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $239,432,000. Amundi lifted its position in 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 last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Ulta Beauty by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 319,938 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $139,151,000 after buying an additional 12,273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summitry LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 2.4% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

NASDAQ ULTA 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. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $360.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $383.45. The stock has a market cap of $16.38 billion, a PE ratio of 14.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.16. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1 year low of $309.01 and a 1 year high of $460.00.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $7.13 by $1.33. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The company had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $8.08 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Ulta Beauty from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $384.00 to $423.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $480.00 to $475.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $538.00 to $526.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $460.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Monday, March 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $427.61.

Insider Transactions at Ulta Beauty

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

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.