Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 76 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,612 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 76 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $1,394,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 14.1% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 620,793 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $239,545,000 after buying an additional 76,721 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 47.7% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 476,027 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $246,862,000 after purchasing an additional 153,727 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 6.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 422,801 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $163,149,000 after purchasing an additional 24,822 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.2% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 357,503 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $186,933,000 after purchasing an additional 4,344 shares during the period. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the first quarter worth approximately $176,753,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $385.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $395.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $300.00 price target for the company. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lowered their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $450.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $425.29.

Insider Transactions at Ulta Beauty

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

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 0.3 %

ULTA stock opened at $402.01 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $368.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $407.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.31. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 52 week low of $318.17 and a 52 week high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its earnings results 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%. Ulta Beauty’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.02 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.21 EPS for the current year.

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.