Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 159 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,534 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 159 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $1,537,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 93.6% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 6,856 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,668,000 after buying an additional 3,315 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the third quarter worth $41,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 96,492 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $37,547,000 after buying an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the third quarter valued at about $57,000. Finally, Isthmus Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.5% during the third quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 29,983 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $11,667,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Loop Capital raised their price target on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $360.00 to $310.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $405.00 to $365.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $427.13.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $359.47 on Friday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a one year low of $309.01 and a one year high of $529.67. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $373.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $386.22. The company has a market cap of $16.67 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.34.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.13 by $1.33. The company had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.47 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. Ulta Beauty’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $8.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current 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.