Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Sells 173 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 0.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 71,931 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 173 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $39,251,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ULTA. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,886,434 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,344,096,000 after buying an additional 40,190 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 3,128.6% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,374,895 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $39,384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,301,338 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.4% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,997,828 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,090,149,000 after purchasing an additional 27,840 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 22.2% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,652,512 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $901,726,000 after purchasing an additional 299,970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 125.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,530,543 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $717,932,000 after purchasing an additional 852,258 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.30% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock traded up $1.32 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $415.75. The stock had a trading volume of 159,365 shares, compared to its average volume of 773,596. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 12 month low of $373.80 and a 12 month high of $556.60. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $444.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $478.56. The stock has a market cap of $20.47 billion, a PE ratio of 16.63, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.34.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 24th. The specialty retailer reported $6.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.85 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 63.51% and a net margin of 11.77%. Ulta Beauty’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.70 EPS. Analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 25.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ULTA shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 25th. Barclays lowered their price target on Ulta Beauty from $600.00 to $587.00 in a report on Sunday, August 27th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $525.00 to $475.00 in a research report on Friday, May 26th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $510.00 to $485.00 in a research report on Friday, May 26th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $540.00 to $490.00 in a research report on Friday, May 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $545.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 400 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $180,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $974,250. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

About Ulta Beauty

Ulta Beauty, Inc operate specialty retail stores selling cosmetics, fragrance, haircare and skincare products, and related accessories and services in the United States. It offers broad assortment of branded and private label beauty products including cosmetics, fragrance, haircare, skincare, bath and body products, professional hair products, and salon styling tools; and salon services, including hair, skin, makeup, and brow services, as well as nail services.