California Public Employees Retirement System Decreases Stock Holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 93,847 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 8,373 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.19% of Ulta Beauty worth $45,984,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 4.3% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 535 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 2,828 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,386,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 24.5% in the third quarter. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC now owns 127 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.4% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,820 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $727,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Finally, Phoenix Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 2.6% in the third quarter. Phoenix Wealth Advisors now owns 1,106 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $442,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In related news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total value of $1,629,325.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,705 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Ulta Beauty news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total transaction of $11,027,870.50. Following the transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total transaction of $1,629,325.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,326. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of ULTA stock traded down $1.62 on Friday, reaching $406.39. 637,675 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,044,163. The company has a market cap of $19.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.60, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50-day moving average of $500.18 and a 200-day moving average of $468.88. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a one year low of $368.02 and a one year high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $7.49 by $0.59. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 61.64%. The company had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.68 EPS. The business's revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.55 EPS for the current year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 14th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty retailer to reacquire up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ULTA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Loop Capital upgraded Ulta Beauty from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $540.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $350.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $583.00 to $612.00 and gave the company an "overweight" 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 assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $556.52.

Ulta Beauty Company 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.