Swiss National Bank Sells 6,200 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Swiss National Bank lessened its holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 154,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 6,200 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.32% of Ulta Beauty worth $75,458,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 7,300.0% in 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. bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $574.00 to $627.00 in a report on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group raised their price target on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $548.05.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 0.0 %

ULTA opened at $397.39 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $486.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $470.17. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 52 week low of $368.02 and a 52 week high of $574.76. The stock has a market cap of $19.05 billion, a PE ratio of 15.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.36.

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

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

Insider Transactions at Ulta Beauty

In related news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total transaction of $263,130.00. Following the transaction, the director now 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $876,222.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at $5,523,936.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.