Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Sold by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. decreased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 11.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 712 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 93 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $310,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 121.4% during the fourth quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 118.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 151.5% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on ULTA. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $480.00 to $475.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ulta Beauty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Monday, March 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $427.13.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of ULTA opened at $359.47 on Friday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 12 month low of $309.01 and a 12 month high of $529.67. The stock has a market cap of $16.67 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.34. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $373.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $386.22.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $8.08 EPS. Ulta Beauty’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share 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.