Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 123,513 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 2,378 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned approximately 0.25% of Ulta Beauty worth $60,520,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total value of $11,027,870.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,494 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Ulta Beauty news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total value of $11,027,870.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,494 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total value of $263,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $876,222.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,326 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on ULTA shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $480.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $580.00 to $520.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $561.29.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

ULTA stock traded down $11.61 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $413.50. The company had a trading volume of 1,072,795 shares, compared to its average volume of 772,886. The company has a market capitalization of $19.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $514.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $467.55. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $368.02 and a fifty-two week high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $7.49 by $0.59. The company had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 61.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. Ulta Beauty's revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.68 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 14th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty retailer to reacquire up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.