Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Sold by Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. cut its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 24.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 636 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 205 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $245,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,227 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $601,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth approximately $209,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 41.2% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 72 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV lifted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 62.1% in the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 7,540 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,695,000 after purchasing an additional 2,888 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth $263,192,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $378.34 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.05 billion, a PE ratio of 14.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.31. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1 year low of $318.17 and a 1 year high of $574.76. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $368.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $412.25.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.61 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 54.02% and a net margin of 10.68%. Ulta Beauty’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.02 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ULTA has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James downgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $500.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $552.00 to $448.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $375.00 to $345.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $435.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $530.00 to $544.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $425.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.