Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 188 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Van ECK Associates Corp reduced its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,646 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 188 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $6,686,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 364.3% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 65 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 7,300.0% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 74 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $397.39 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $489.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $468.82. The firm has a market cap of $19.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.36. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $368.02 and a fifty-two week high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.55 EPS for the current year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, March 14th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty retailer to purchase up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In other news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total transaction of $11,027,870.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,523,936.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction on 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total value of $263,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $876,222.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ULTA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI cut their target price 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. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $665.00 to $595.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Raymond James dropped 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, Loop Capital raised Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $548.05.

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.