Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Boosts Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,037 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,662 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.06% of Ulta Beauty worth $13,248,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 56.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,538,533 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $614,568,000 after buying an additional 556,809 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 45,740.3% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 291,544 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $142,854,000 after purchasing an additional 290,908 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 86.5% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 342,547 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $136,451,000 after purchasing an additional 158,897 shares in the last quarter. Scopus Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,945,000. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 74.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 221,882 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $88,630,000 after buying an additional 94,581 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ULTA traded up $2.17 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $420.15. 224,455 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 764,065. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 12 month low of $368.02 and a 12 month high of $574.76. The firm has a market cap of $20.28 billion, a PE ratio of 16.05, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $509.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $468.85.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ULTA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Ulta Beauty from $656.00 to $635.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $480.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $574.00 to $627.00 in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $561.29.

Insider Transactions at Ulta Beauty

In other news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were 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 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 this link. In other news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were 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 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 this link. Also, 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 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 $876,222.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.