Czech National Bank Acquires 435 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 4.3% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,651 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $3,904,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. 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 buying an additional 11,205 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth $430,674,000. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 9,291 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 72,004 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth $239,432,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 stock was sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ULTA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective (up from $450.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $510.00 to $542.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. UBS Group increased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $490.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $460.91.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of ULTA opened at $473.11 on Wednesday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1 year low of $309.01 and a 1 year high of $491.98. The company has a market capitalization of $21.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50-day moving average of $388.84 and a 200-day moving average of $389.42.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The specialty retailer reported $6.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.73 by $0.97. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 51.95% and a net margin of 10.58%. The company had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.47 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current year.

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.