Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) is Eagle Ridge Investment Management’s 10th Largest Position

Eagle Ridge Investment Management cut its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 61,308 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 514 shares during the quarter. Ulta Beauty makes up 2.9% of Eagle Ridge Investment Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Eagle Ridge Investment Management owned 0.13% of Ulta Beauty worth $30,040,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ULTA. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its stake 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 worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 period. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

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

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Ulta Beauty stock traded down $0.52 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $405.87. The company had a trading volume of 394,956 shares, compared to its average volume of 764,215. The firm has a market cap of $19.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 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. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $500.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $469.42.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued 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 return on equity of 61.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.68 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 14th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty retailer to buy up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Ulta Beauty from $485.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Ulta Beauty from $574.00 to $627.00 in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Evercore ISI cut their target price 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. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on Ulta Beauty from $665.00 to $595.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.