Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Position Reduced by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 8.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 93,847 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 8,373 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $45,984,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 364.3% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 65 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 7,300.0% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 74 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Ulta Beauty stock opened at $406.39 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $500.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $19.48 billion, a PE ratio of 15.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.30. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a twelve month low of $368.02 and a twelve month high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.49 by $0.59. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 61.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.68 earnings per share. Ulta Beauty’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 14th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty retailer to repurchase up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ULTA shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $535.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $480.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Loop Capital raised Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $556.52.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In other news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total transaction of $1,629,325.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Ulta Beauty news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total value of $11,027,870.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total transaction of $1,629,325.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,326. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.