Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Acquired by Summit Global Investments

Summit Global Investments boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,303 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $1,618,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 20.9% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 15,756 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,294,000 after acquiring an additional 2,725 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 35.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 7,713 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,081,000 after purchasing an additional 2,025 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 10.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 72,415 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,926,000 after buying an additional 7,098 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 45.1% in the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 1,689 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $675,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Advisors MI lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 2.4% during the third quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 2,013 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $804,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total transaction of $11,027,870.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,523,936.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on ULTA. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $350.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $574.00 to $627.00 in a research note on Friday, March 15th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $580.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $548.05.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of ULTA traded up $0.06 during trading on Friday, reaching $397.39. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 591,313 shares, compared to its average volume of 763,636. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a twelve month low of $368.02 and a twelve month high of $574.76. The company has a market cap of $19.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a fifty day moving average of $489.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $468.82.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 61.64%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.68 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, March 14th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty retailer to purchase up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management 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.