ProShare Advisors LLC Has $2.97 Million Stock Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 13.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,838 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 824 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC's holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $2,974,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter valued at about $405,000. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 60.0% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 144 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 32.1% in the 4th quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 2,455 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,068,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 787 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 53.4% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 2,196 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $955,000 after purchasing an additional 764 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company's stock.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

ULTA stock traded down $3.35 during trading on Friday, reaching $407.04. 569,117 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,050,342. The company has a 50-day moving average of $376.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $386.37. The company has a market capitalization of $18.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.06. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a twelve month low of $309.01 and a twelve month high of $460.00.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.47 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $8.08 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the company'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 value of $332,982.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,817,429.12. This represents a 10.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on ULTA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $477.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $445.00 to $327.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Ulta Beauty from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $384.00 to $423.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $380.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $400.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $424.25.

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.