AMI Asset Management Corp Acquires 3,098 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

AMI Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 3.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 104,196 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,098 shares during the quarter. Ulta Beauty comprises about 2.8% of AMI Asset Management Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. AMI Asset Management Corp owned about 0.22% of Ulta Beauty worth $54,482,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Vima LLC bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 7,300.0% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 74 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ulta Beauty

In other news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $388.68, for a total transaction of $252,642.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,643,412.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $390.08, for a total value of $39,008.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,017 shares in the company, valued at $786,791.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $388.68, for a total transaction of $252,642.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,643,412.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 0.9 %

Ulta Beauty stock traded down $3.35 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $389.67. The stock had a trading volume of 431,443 shares, compared to its average volume of 788,801. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 52-week low of $368.02 and a 52-week high of $574.76. The firm has a market cap of $18.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a fifty day moving average of $390.81 and a 200 day moving average of $460.74.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The specialty retailer reported $6.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.19 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 11.13% and a return on equity of 58.06%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.88 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 25.76 EPS for the current year.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $350.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $605.00 to $476.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $625.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.87.

About Ulta Beauty

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.