Hartford Funding Administration Co. Reduces Inventory Holdings in Ulta Magnificence, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Daily SF NewsApril 6, 2024

0 0 5 minutes read

Hartford Investment Management Co. reduced its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA – Free Report) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,318 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 187 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $1,626,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 1,260 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $591,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 4.3% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $214,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 2,852 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,338,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 2,828 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,386,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wetherby Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 491 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

ULTA stock opened at $444.75 on Friday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1-year low of $368.02 and a 1-year high of $574.76. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $527.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $464.85. The company has a market capitalization of $21.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.07, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.30.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.49 by $0.59. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 61.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.68 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, March 14th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty retailer to repurchase up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total value of $11,027,870.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at $5,523,936.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total value of $11,027,870.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total transaction of $263,130.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at $876,222.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ULTA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $583.00 to $612.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $635.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $480.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $575.45.

Get Our Latest Research Report on Ulta Beauty

Ulta Beauty Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.