State of Alaska Department of Revenue Sells 1,995 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue reduced its holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 13.3% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,050 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,995 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $6,822,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. 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 valued at $614,568,000 after purchasing an additional 556,809 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $263,192,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the first quarter valued at approximately $176,753,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 45,740.3% during the fourth 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. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 177.8% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 407,347 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $199,596,000 after purchasing an additional 260,740 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In other news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.08, for a total value of $39,008.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,017 shares in the company, valued at $786,791.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $388.68, for a total transaction of $252,642.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,801 shares in the company, valued at $2,643,412.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.08, for a total value of $39,008.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $786,791.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ULTA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $565.00 to $475.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $438.00 to $412.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $480.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $350.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.87.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ULTA traded down $3.35 on Wednesday, reaching $389.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 431,442 shares, compared to its average volume of 811,326. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1-year low of $368.02 and a 1-year high of $574.76. The firm has a market cap of $18.59 billion, a PE ratio of 15.20, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $391.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $461.24.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The specialty retailer reported $6.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.19 by $0.28. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 58.06% and a net margin of 11.13%. The firm had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 25.76 EPS for the current year.

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

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.