Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA – Free Report) by 95.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,796 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 227,757 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $3,913,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position 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 worth $717,932,000 after acquiring an additional 852,258 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 56.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,538,533 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $614,568,000 after acquiring an additional 556,809 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the second quarter worth approximately $207,721,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth approximately $205,146,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 9.5% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,236,208 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,993,538,000 after acquiring an additional 367,437 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of brokerages have recently commented on ULTA. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $583.00 to $612.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $635.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $535.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $579.81.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on ULTA
Ulta Beauty Price Performance
Shares of Ulta Beauty stock opened at $514.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $523.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $460.69. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1 year low of $368.02 and a 1 year high of $574.76. The stock has a market cap of $24.98 billion, a PE ratio of 19.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.31.
Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.49 by $0.59. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 61.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.94 EPS for the current year.
Ulta Beauty announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program 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 programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty
In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total value of $263,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $876,222.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,326. Corporate 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.
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