California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 6,499 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 83,346 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 6,499 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $36,250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ULTA. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 0.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,188,730 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $461,059,000 after buying an additional 10,153 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth approximately $239,432,000. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 450,239 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $186,912,000 after purchasing an additional 74,013 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 319,938 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $139,151,000 after purchasing an additional 12,273 shares during the period. Finally, Summitry LLC raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 216,671 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $94,237,000 after purchasing an additional 5,137 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 2.3 %

Ulta Beauty stock opened at $382.51 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $371.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $386.30. The stock has a market cap of $17.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.34. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 12-month low of $309.01 and a 12-month high of $474.12.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued 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 company had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.47 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The company’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. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total transaction of $332,982.32. Following the transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ULTA shares. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $510.00 to $415.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $467.00 to $404.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $400.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $427.61.

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.