Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Decreases Stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio reduced its position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 13.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,157 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 2,560 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $7,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,199,935 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $520,587,000 after acquiring an additional 11,205 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth approximately $430,674,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 1.4% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 14.7% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth approximately $239,432,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Trading Up 3.5%

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA opened at $421.31 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.02 billion, a PE ratio of 16.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $380.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $386.87. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 12-month low of $309.01 and a 12-month high of $460.00.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.13 by $1.33. The business had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.47 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 51.95% and a net margin of 10.58%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $8.08 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ULTA shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $445.00 to $327.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $400.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. 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 note on Friday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $477.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on Ulta Beauty from $526.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $424.78.

Insider Transactions at Ulta Beauty

In other news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total value of $332,982.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,817,429.12. This trade represents a 10.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.17% 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.