3,774 Shares in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Bought by Duality Advisers LP

Duality Advisers LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,774 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,849,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 56.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,538,533 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $614,568,000 after purchasing an additional 556,809 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 45,740.3% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 291,544 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $142,854,000 after purchasing an additional 290,908 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 86.5% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 342,547 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $136,451,000 after purchasing an additional 158,897 shares during the period. Scopus Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,945,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 74.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 221,882 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $88,630,000 after purchasing an additional 94,581 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ULTA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, April 8th. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $630.00 to $610.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $561.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total transaction of $11,027,870.50. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $876,222.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total value of $11,027,870.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,523,936.66. 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.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

NASDAQ ULTA opened at $417.98 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.30. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a one year low of $368.02 and a one year high of $574.76. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $509.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $468.85.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 61.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.68 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 14th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty retailer to repurchase up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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.