Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA – Free Report) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,818 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 608 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $4,321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. Prudential PLC bought a new position in Ulta Beauty during the first quarter worth about $425,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,886,434 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,344,096,000 after acquiring an additional 40,190 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 2.8% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,299 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,305,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 38.6% during the first quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,117 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $444,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in Ulta Beauty by 59.1% during the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $583.00 to $612.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $595.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $570.70.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on ULTA
Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty
In other news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total transaction of $263,130.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at $876,222.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total transaction of $1,629,325.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total value of $263,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $876,222.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.
Ulta Beauty Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $447.91 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $521.88 and its 200 day moving average is $466.36. The company has a market capitalization of $21.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.30. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $368.02 and a fifty-two week high of $574.76.
Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.49 by $0.59. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 61.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.68 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.74 earnings per share for the current year.
Ulta Beauty announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 14th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty retailer to reacquire up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.
Ulta Beauty Company 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.
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