Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. Decreases Stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,849 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 49 shares during the quarter. Ulta Beauty comprises approximately 1.8% of Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $1,886,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ULTA. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 56.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 3.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 575,658 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $229,947,000 after purchasing an additional 21,828 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 6.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 570,913 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $228,051,000 after purchasing an additional 33,508 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 86.5% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 342,547 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $136,451,000 after acquiring an additional 158,897 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 293,126 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $117,089,000 after purchasing an additional 40,166 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 2.1 %

ULTA traded down $8.67 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $410.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 236,129 shares, compared to its average volume of 763,143. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $507.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $469.06. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 12 month low of $368.02 and a 12 month high of $574.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.30.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.68 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.55 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

ULTA has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays upped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $583.00 to $612.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Loop Capital raised Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, April 8th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Ulta Beauty from $574.00 to $627.00 in a report on Friday, March 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $561.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of Ulta Beauty 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $876,222.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 valued at $12,920,326. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.