Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Purchased by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 85,334 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 5,938 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.18% of Ulta Beauty worth $37,114,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ULTA. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 93.6% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 6,856 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,668,000 after buying an additional 3,315 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 3rd quarter worth about $41,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 96,492 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $37,547,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 3rd quarter worth about $57,000. Finally, Cadence Bank lifted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 24.4% during the third quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 1,553 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ULTA. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $445.00 to $327.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $405.00 to $365.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on Ulta Beauty from $538.00 to $526.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $360.00 to $310.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $427.13.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 0.4 %

ULTA stock opened at $370.34 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $374.58 and a 200-day moving average of $386.37. The company has a market cap of $17.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.82, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.34. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 12-month low of $309.01 and a 12-month high of $529.67.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.13 by $1.33. The firm had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.47 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 51.95% and a net margin of 10.58%. Ulta Beauty’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.