Hsbc Holdings PLC Has $111.15 Million Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Hsbc Holdings PLC cut its holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 30.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 255,557 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 111,105 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned approximately 0.55% of Ulta Beauty worth $111,147,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on ULTA. B. Riley lowered their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $430.00 to $330.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Monday, March 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Ulta Beauty from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $384.00 to $423.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $415.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $427.61.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of ULTA stock traded down $0.92 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $385.53. 161,461 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,051,009. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a twelve month low of $309.01 and a twelve month high of $460.00. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $358.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $382.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.47 billion, a PE ratio of 15.41, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.16.

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

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total value of $332,982.32. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,632 shares in the company, valued at $2,817,429.12. The trade was a 10.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.