Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Raises Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 29.7% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 33,153 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 7,596 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $12,793,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Nvwm LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $511,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 41.2% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 72 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 32.5% in the first quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 102 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 2,742 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,344,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 478 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Ulta Beauty stock opened at $367.59 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $17.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $369.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $419.37. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1 year low of $318.17 and a 1 year high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.61 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 54.02% and a net margin of 10.68%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.02 EPS. Research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ULTA. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $435.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. UBS Group dropped 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 note on Friday, August 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $412.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $520.00 to $450.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $522.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $430.74.

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.