Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Trims Stock Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. cut its holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 31,334 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 224 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.07% of Ulta Beauty worth $12,091,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 37.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 3,584 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,383,000 after buying an additional 984 shares during the last quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 194.6% during the 2nd quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 3,700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,428,000 after purchasing an additional 2,444 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 71.7% during the 2nd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 2,868 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,198 shares in the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 8,940 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,450,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC lifted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 23.9% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 22,434 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $8,657,000 after purchasing an additional 4,332 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

ULTA stock opened at $373.08 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $17.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.31. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1 year low of $318.17 and a 1 year high of $574.76. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $368.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $415.54.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.47 by ($0.17). Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 54.02%. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.61 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.02 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.24 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.08, for a total transaction of $39,008.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,017 shares in the company, valued at $786,791.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.08, for a total value of $39,008.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $786,791.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 650 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $388.68, for a total transaction of $252,642.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,643,412.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ULTA shares. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $550.00 to $505.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Ulta Beauty from $525.00 to $485.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 23rd. B. Riley began coverage on Ulta Beauty in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “sell” rating and a $300.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $328.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $412.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $425.29.

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.