Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Sells 3,415 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 56.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,629 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 3,415 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $1,143,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 121.4% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 36.9% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 115 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company's stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 11.4%

Shares of ULTA stock traded up $47.92 during trading on Friday, reaching $469.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,593,456 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,061,241. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $384.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $387.99. The company has a market cap of $21.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.06. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a one year low of $309.01 and a one year high of $491.32.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The specialty retailer reported $6.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.73 by $0.97. The business had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.47 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total transaction of $332,982.32. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,817,429.12. This represents a 10.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $467.00 to $404.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $477.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $415.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $445.00 to $327.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $510.00 to $542.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $454.04.

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.