Peterson Wealth Services Decreases Stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Peterson Wealth Services trimmed its position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 15.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,663 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 657 shares during the period. Peterson Wealth Services’ holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $1,794,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,886,434 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,344,096,000 after purchasing an additional 40,190 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 1.4% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,997,828 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,090,149,000 after acquiring an additional 27,840 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 556,809 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 125.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,530,543 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $717,932,000 after acquiring an additional 852,258 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,100,246 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $599,089,000 after purchasing an additional 19,467 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In other news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at $876,222.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Ulta Beauty 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 value of $263,130.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at $876,222.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly 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 quarter, insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $485.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $535.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, March 15th. Barclays upped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $583.00 to $612.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $480.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $568.29.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA traded down $0.01 during trading on Thursday, hitting $424.54. 208,576 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 759,980. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $515.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $467.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.49 billion, a PE ratio of 16.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.30. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 12-month low of $368.02 and a 12-month high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.49 by $0.59. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 61.64%. The business’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.68 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 14th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty retailer to purchase up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often 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.