Essex Investment Management Co. LLC Reduces Stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Essex Investment Management Co. LLC trimmed its position in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 8.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 879 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 80 shares during the quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $382,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised 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 buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Ulta Beauty stock opened at $355.43 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $16.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.34. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 12 month low of $318.17 and a 12 month high of $574.76. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $394.36 and its 200-day moving average is $388.12.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.69. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.07 earnings per share. Ulta Beauty’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ULTA. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $385.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $457.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $470.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. B. Riley raised shares of Ulta Beauty from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $330.00 to $430.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $459.22.

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.