Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 23.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 100,420 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 30,584 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $39,075,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ULTA. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 180,713.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,238,569 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $481,952,000 after buying an additional 1,237,884 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $359,480,000. Holocene Advisors LP increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 3,246.2% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 346,262 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $134,737,000 after acquiring an additional 335,914 shares during the last quarter. Atreides Management LP purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 3rd quarter worth about $73,069,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 87.3% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 337,882 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $130,380,000 after buying an additional 157,497 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $429.14 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $384.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $379.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.90 billion, a PE ratio of 17.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.32. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1 year low of $318.17 and a 1 year high of $574.76.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ULTA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective 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. Barclays increased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $335.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $385.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $439.30.

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.