Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,251 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 952 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.13% of Ulta Beauty worth $21,718,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ULTA. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 17.9% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,092 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,190,000 after acquiring an additional 924 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 14.8% in the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,179 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $435,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 128.9% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 737 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $275,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 26.4% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 73,137 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $31,809,000 after purchasing an additional 15,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 6.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,210 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company's stock.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of ULTA traded up $0.70 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $476.84. The stock had a trading volume of 474,112 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,043,671. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 1-year low of $309.01 and a 1-year high of $498.52. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $445.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $403.72. The company has a market cap of $21.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.63, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.08.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The specialty retailer reported $6.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.73 by $0.97. The firm had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 49.73%. The company's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.47 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ULTA shares. Barclays lifted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $327.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Ulta Beauty from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $384.00 to $423.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group boosted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $490.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ulta Beauty from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $315.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $465.04.

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.