Wedbush Securities Inc. Sells 638 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Wedbush Securities Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 8.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,087 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 638 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $3,082,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 121.4% during the fourth quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 118.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 151.5% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ULTA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ulta Beauty from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $400.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $427.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total transaction of $332,982.32. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,817,429.12. This trade represents a 10.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of ULTA stock opened at $359.36 on Friday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $309.01 and a fifty-two week high of $460.00. The company has a market cap of $16.66 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.34. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $369.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $385.97.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.13 by $1.33. The firm had revenue of $3.49 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $8.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.