Flputnam Investment Management Co. Reduces Holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. lowered its position in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,035 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 90 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $885,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 118.4% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 151.5% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Edge Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ULTA. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $385.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $457.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $459.22.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

ULTA stock opened at $366.36 on Monday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1-year low of $318.17 and a 1-year high of $574.76. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $403.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $388.94. The firm has a market cap of $16.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.66, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.28.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.69. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.07 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Ulta Beauty

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.