Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 9,247 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 20.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 35,290 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 9,247 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.07% of Ulta Beauty worth $13,033,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 180,713.0% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the third quarter valued at approximately $359,480,000. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 3,246.2% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 346,262 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $134,737,000 after purchasing an additional 335,914 shares during the period. Atreides Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the third quarter worth $73,069,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 87.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 337,882 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $130,380,000 after purchasing an additional 157,497 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Trading Up 1.1 %

ULTA stock opened at $430.01 on Friday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 12 month low of $318.17 and a 12 month high of $574.76. The stock has a market cap of $19.94 billion, a PE ratio of 17.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $384.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $379.44.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its earnings results 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. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 51.95% and a net margin of 10.58%. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.07 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.57 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on ULTA. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $430.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 26th. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $440.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $335.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $435.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $390.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.