Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Acquired by Carret Asset Management LLC

Carret Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 0.7% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,086 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $2,231,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,199,935 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $520,587,000 after purchasing an additional 11,205 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth $430,674,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth $239,432,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total transaction of $332,982.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,632 shares in the company, valued at $2,817,429.12. This represents a 10.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock opened at $473.85 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $417.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $398.50. The company has a market cap of $21.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.09. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $309.01 and a fifty-two week high of $491.98.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The specialty retailer reported $6.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.73 by $0.97. The business had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 49.73%. The company’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.47 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ULTA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $315.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $327.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Argus lowered shares of Ulta Beauty from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $460.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $415.00 to $485.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $462.22.

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.