Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Position Trimmed by Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA

Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA lowered its stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 18.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,094 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 251 shares during the period. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $549,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 27,037 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $13,248,000 after purchasing an additional 1,662 shares during the period. RWA Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 81.9% during the 4th quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,146 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,052,000 after buying an additional 966 shares during the period. Scott & Selber Inc. raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 44.2% during the 4th quarter. Scott & Selber Inc. now owns 4,446 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,178,000 after buying an additional 1,363 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,849,000. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter worth about $226,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ULTA traded up $2.92 on Tuesday, reaching $420.90. The company had a trading volume of 327,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 765,354. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.05, a P/E/G 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $368.02 and a twelve month high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm 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 company earned $6.68 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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 authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, March 14th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty retailer to purchase up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,523,936.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Ulta Beauty news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at $1,420,801.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,326. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ULTA. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $595.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group upped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. 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 research note on Friday, March 15th. One 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $561.29.

Ulta Beauty 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.