KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Buys New Stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 16,716 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $7,270,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 382.5% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 10,698 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,163,000 after acquiring an additional 8,481 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1,052.6% in the 3rd quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC now owns 8,218 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,198,000 after purchasing an additional 7,505 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 199.5% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 4,646 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,021,000 after purchasing an additional 3,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 307,665 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $119,719,000 after purchasing an additional 6,825 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $366.16 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $376.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $386.57. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $309.01 and a fifty-two week high of $529.67. The company has a market capitalization of $16.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.34.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the business posted $8.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on ULTA. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $360.00 to $310.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Barclays cut their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $445.00 to $327.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $405.00 to $365.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $364.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $427.13.

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.