Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 237 Shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 2.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,963 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 237 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $3,652,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ULTA. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 2,455 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,068,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,481 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,514,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 861 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Simmons Bank grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 5,124 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,229,000 after purchasing an additional 634 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 19,500 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $8,481,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $477.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $315.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $440.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $327.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $462.22.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA opened at $459.09 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.09. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 52-week low of $309.01 and a 52-week high of $491.98. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $423.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $399.70.

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

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In related news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $2,817,429.12. The trade was a 10.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.17% 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.