Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Sold by Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky cut its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 96.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,642 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 88,530 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $1,335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ULTA. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the first quarter worth $29,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the first quarter worth $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 218.5% in the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 86 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. North Star Investment Management Corp. lifted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 71.4% in the first quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 96 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the first quarter valued at $37,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on ULTA. Citigroup raised their target price on Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Ulta Beauty from $440.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Ulta Beauty from $485.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group raised their target price on Ulta Beauty from $490.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ulta Beauty from $477.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $465.04.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

NASDAQ ULTA opened at $513.55 on Friday. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a one year low of $309.01 and a one year high of $514.34. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $462.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $407.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.06, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.08.

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