Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Sold by Marshall Wace LLP

Marshall Wace LLP reduced its position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 80.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 63,455 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 257,774 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned 0.13% of Ulta Beauty worth $24,485,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 83.3% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 66 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Vima LLC acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 490.0% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 59 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on ULTA shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $525.00 to $485.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $550.00 to $505.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $522.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $430.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $375.00 to $345.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $425.29.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.08, for a total value of $39,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $786,791.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Ulta Beauty stock opened at $406.11 on Friday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $318.17 and a fifty-two week high of $574.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $367.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $404.90. The company has a market capitalization of $19.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.84, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.31.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.47 by ($0.17). Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 54.02%. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.02 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.21 EPS for the current fiscal 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.