abrdn plc Increases Holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

abrdn plc grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 29.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,541 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 5,788 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $12,515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 347.3% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,810,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 284,442 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $113,620,000 after purchasing an additional 2,126 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asio Capital LLC grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 64.3% during the 4th quarter. Asio Capital LLC now owns 10,171 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,984,000 after purchasing an additional 3,980 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ULTA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $630.00 to $610.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $485.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $535.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $574.00 to $627.00 in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $556.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,420,801.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Ulta Beauty news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total value of $11,027,870.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 10,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,523,936.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the firm’s 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 approximately $1,420,801.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,326. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $408.01 on Friday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 52 week low of $368.02 and a 52 week high of $574.76. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $502.70 and a 200 day moving average of $468.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.66, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.30.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.49 by $0.59. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 61.64%. The company had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.68 earnings per share. Ulta Beauty’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.55 EPS for the current year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 14th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty retailer to repurchase up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.