Wedbush Securities Inc. Has $3.08 Million Stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Wedbush Securities Inc. cut its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,087 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 638 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $3,082,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ULTA. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 913.9% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 730 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $284,000 after acquiring an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 45.7% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 1,594 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $620,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 31,587 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $12,291,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 451.9% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 149 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 100.8% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 10,353 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,029,000 after buying an additional 5,197 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ULTA. Citigroup decreased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $405.00 to $365.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $538.00 to $526.00 and set a “buy” 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, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $427.61.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Ulta Beauty stock opened at $359.36 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $16.66 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.34. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $309.01 and a fifty-two week high of $460.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $369.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $385.97.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.13 by $1.33. The firm had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.47 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 51.95% and a net margin of 10.58%. The company’s revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $8.08 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In related news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total value of $332,982.32. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Company 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.