AMI Asset Management Corp Reduces Stock Position in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

AMI Asset Management Corp cut its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 5.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 92,472 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 4,983 shares during the quarter. Ulta Beauty makes up approximately 2.0% of AMI Asset Management Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. AMI Asset Management Corp owned about 0.20% of Ulta Beauty worth $33,895,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,199,935 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $520,587,000 after acquiring an additional 11,205 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter worth $430,674,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 9,291 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 72,004 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth about $239,432,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ulta Beauty

In other news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 7,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,817,429.12. The trade was a 10.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ULTA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $465.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $510.00 to $542.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $465.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $467.00 to $404.00 and set a “market perform” 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 given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $462.22.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

ULTA opened at $459.09 on Thursday. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a one year low of $309.01 and a one year high of $491.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $423.67 and its 200-day moving average is $399.70. The company has a market capitalization of $20.64 billion, a PE ratio of 17.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.09.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 49.73% and a net margin of 10.45%. Ulta Beauty’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.47 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current fiscal 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.