Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Stake Lifted by Los Angeles Capital Management LLC

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 2,481.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 87,490 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 84,101 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $42,869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have 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 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 during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 575,658 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $229,947,000 after acquiring an additional 21,828 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 6.2% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 158,897 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of Ulta Beauty 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 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total transaction 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 is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total value of $1,629,325.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $397.39. 591,313 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 763,636. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1-year low of $368.02 and a 1-year high of $574.76. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $489.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $468.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.25, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.36.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its 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. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 61.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. Ulta Beauty’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.68 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 reacquire up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ULTA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $438.00 price target (down previously from $585.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays downgraded Ulta Beauty from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $612.00 to $434.00 in a report on Monday. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $630.00 to $610.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $656.00 to $635.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $548.05.

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.