Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Sold by River Road Asset Management LLC

River Road Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 86.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,630 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 103,123 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $6,471,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ULTA. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 3,949 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,537,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 11.8% in the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 93,419 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $36,351,000 after purchasing an additional 9,863 shares during the period. Leeward Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 5.2% in the third quarter. Leeward Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,776 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,469,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 2.6% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 8,363 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,254,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 2.3% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 18,829 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,911,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Ulta Beauty stock opened at $382.91 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $18.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.33. 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 price is $376.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $380.59.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.47 by ($0.17). Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 54.02% and a net margin of 10.68%. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.02 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ULTA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $520.00 to $450.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $375.00 to $345.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $430.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, B. Riley began coverage on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $300.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $420.71.

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.