TCW Group Inc. Decreases Stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

TCW Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 14.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 158,239 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 27,393 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $77,533,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ULTA. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 556,809 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $263,192,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 290,908 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 86.5% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 342,547 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $136,451,000 after acquiring an additional 158,897 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scopus Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the third quarter worth $39,945,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 this link. In related news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total transaction of $263,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at $876,222.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,326 in the last ninety days. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of ULTA traded down $2.19 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $376.14. 843,008 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 758,331. The company has a market capitalization of $18.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.52, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.36. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a twelve month low of $368.02 and a twelve month high of $574.76. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $445.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $471.04.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.49 by $0.59. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 61.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. The company had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous 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 research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

ULTA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, March 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $350.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $485.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $535.45.

Ulta Beauty 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.