Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Sold by Nuveen Asset Management LLC

Nuveen Asset Management LLC cut its stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 146,920 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 1,456 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.32% of Ulta Beauty worth $63,900,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 166 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 199.5% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 4,646 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,021,000 after acquiring an additional 3,095 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 3,973 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,663,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the period. Buckhead Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 12,088 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $5,257,000 after buying an additional 1,633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at $348,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In related news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 7,632 shares in the company, valued at $2,817,429.12. This trade represents a 10.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock traded down $9.65 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $404.75. The company had a trading volume of 751,065 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,052,363. The company has a market cap of $18.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.06. The firm's fifty day moving average is $375.08 and its 200-day moving average is $386.19. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $309.01 and a fifty-two week high of $460.00.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $7.13 by $1.33. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $8.08 earnings per share. Ulta Beauty's revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on ULTA. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $467.00 to $404.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $460.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Argus downgraded Ulta Beauty from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $435.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $424.00.

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.