Marshall Wace LLP Raises Stock Holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 10,336.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 459,110 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 454,711 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $199,681,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 121.4% in the fourth quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 151.5% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $57,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Ulta Beauty stock opened at $358.09 on Wednesday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1 year low of $309.01 and a 1 year high of $460.00. The stock has a market cap of $16.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $358.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $382.86.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.13 by $1.33. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 51.95% and a net margin of 10.58%. The firm had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $8.08 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ULTA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Ulta Beauty from $480.00 to $475.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $467.00 to $404.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $445.00 to $327.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ulta Beauty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $405.00 to $365.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $427.61.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total value of $332,982.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,817,429.12. The trade was a 10.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

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.