Greenleaf Trust Lowers Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Greenleaf Trust cut its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,012 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 68 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $496,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 347.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 71,491 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $35,061,000 after purchasing an additional 55,508 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,810,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 0.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 284,442 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $113,620,000 after acquiring an additional 2,126 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $582,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Asio Capital LLC raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 64.3% during the fourth quarter. Asio Capital LLC now owns 10,171 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,984,000 after acquiring an additional 3,980 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ULTA shares. Loop Capital raised Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $438.00 price target (down from $585.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price 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, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, March 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $561.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In related news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at $876,222.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $417.98 on Tuesday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1 year low of $368.02 and a 1 year high of $574.76. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $509.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $468.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.18 billion, a PE ratio of 16.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.30.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its earnings results 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. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 61.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 14th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty retailer to reacquire up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.