Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 9.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,266 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 561 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $2,580,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 56.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,538,533 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $614,568,000 after acquiring an additional 556,809 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 45,740.3% during 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 buying an additional 290,908 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 86.5% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 342,547 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $136,451,000 after buying an additional 158,897 shares during the last quarter. Scopus Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the third quarter worth approximately $39,945,000. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 74.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 221,882 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $88,630,000 after acquiring an additional 94,581 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In related news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total value of $1,629,325.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total transaction of $263,130.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $876,222.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total value of $1,629,325.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on ULTA shares. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Ulta Beauty from $656.00 to $635.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Barclays lowered Ulta Beauty from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $612.00 to $434.00 in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $535.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $539.55.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock traded up $0.97 during trading on Thursday, reaching $404.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 224,753 shares, compared to its average volume of 751,893. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1-year low of $368.02 and a 1-year high of $574.76. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $461.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $470.73. The company has a market cap of $19.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.36.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 61.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.68 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.48 earnings per share for the current year.

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

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.