Investment Management Corp of Ontario Decreases Stock Holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Investment Management Corp of Ontario reduced its position in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 18.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,294 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp of Ontario’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $563,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,199,935 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $520,587,000 after purchasing an additional 11,205 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth $430,674,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 655,561 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $285,123,000 after acquiring an additional 9,291 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 562,155 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $244,498,000 after acquiring an additional 72,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth $239,432,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In related news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the company’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 transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 5.2%

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock opened at $412.38 on Tuesday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 52-week low of $309.01 and a 52-week high of $460.00. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $365.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $384.63. The firm has a market cap of $18.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.06.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $8.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ULTA shares. Argus lowered shares of Ulta Beauty from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $384.00 to $423.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $480.00 to $475.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $467.00 to $404.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $427.17.

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.