Eastern Bank Reduces Holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Eastern Bank lowered its position in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 52.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,139 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,258 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $495,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the second quarter valued at approximately $19,136,000. Jensen Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 17.9% during the third quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,330 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,409,000 after purchasing an additional 1,720 shares in the last quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the second quarter valued at approximately $14,665,000. Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the third quarter valued at approximately $793,000. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR lifted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 31.0% during the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 16,014 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,231,000 after purchasing an additional 3,791 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ULTA shares. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $440.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $426.00 to $424.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $472.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $460.30.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 3.4 %

Shares of ULTA opened at $403.94 on Tuesday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 12-month low of $318.17 and a 12-month high of $574.76. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $402.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $384.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.28.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.69. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.07 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.57 earnings per share for the current year.

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.