MetLife Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Key Points

• MetLife Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Ulta Beauty by 3.4%, selling 478 shares, resulting in a total holding of 13,788 shares worth $5,054,000.
• Ulta Beauty reported a quarterly EPS of $5.78, exceeding analysts' expectations of $5.03, and revenue of $2.79 billion, up 9.3% year-over-year.
• Analysts have issued varied ratings on Ulta Beauty, with target prices ranging from $364 to $600, reflecting a consensus average price target of $498.88.

MetLife Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 3.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,788 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 478 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $5,054,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ULTA. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 562,155 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $244,498,000 after buying an additional 72,004 shares during the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 626 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 72.9% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 80,067 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $34,823,000 after purchasing an additional 33,749 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter valued at about $215,000. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,529,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ULTA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $525.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday. Barclays boosted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $589.00 to $617.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $605.00 price objective (up from $580.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $536.75.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 7.7%

NASDAQ ULTA traded up $38.05 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $530.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,506,792 shares, compared to its average volume of 889,205. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $499.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $428.49. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 1 year low of $309.01 and a 1 year high of $538.59. The company has a market capitalization of $23.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.30, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.06.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $5.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.03 by $0.75. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.66 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 48.78% and a net margin of 10.31%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.30 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Ulta Beauty

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.