Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Reduces Stock Holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp reduced its holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 22.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,778 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 2,264 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $3,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Choreo LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 71.7% in the 2nd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 2,868 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,198 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 8,940 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,450,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 23.9% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 22,434 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $8,657,000 after acquiring an additional 4,332 shares during the last quarter. First Foundation Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 45.9% in the 2nd quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 162 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Trium Capital LLP lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 83.8% in the 2nd quarter. Trium Capital LLP now owns 8,624 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,328,000 after purchasing an additional 3,931 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of ULTA opened at $378.34 on Monday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 12-month low of $318.17 and a 12-month high of $574.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $368.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $412.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.31.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.47 by ($0.17). Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 54.02%. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.02 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $388.68, for a total transaction of $252,642.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,643,412.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $388.68, for a total transaction of $252,642.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,643,412.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.08, for a total transaction of $39,008.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $786,791.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $435.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $522.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $507.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $438.00 to $412.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $552.00 to $448.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $425.29.

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.