Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. Decreases Stock Holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. lessened its stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,800 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $11,662,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 347.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 71,491 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $35,061,000 after acquiring an additional 55,508 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 284,442 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $113,620,000 after purchasing an additional 2,126 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $582,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Asio Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 64.3% in the 4th quarter. Asio Capital LLC now owns 10,171 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,984,000 after purchasing an additional 3,980 shares during the period. Finally, AXQ Capital LP bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the third quarter valued at approximately $879,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of Ulta Beauty 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $876,222.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider now owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,420,801.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ULTA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Barclays increased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $583.00 to $612.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $485.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $570.70.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Ulta Beauty stock opened at $442.32 on Monday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $368.02 and a fifty-two week high of $574.76. The company has a market capitalization of $21.35 billion, a PE ratio of 16.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $520.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $467.73.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business 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 posted $6.68 EPS. Ulta Beauty’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its board has approved a stock 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 purchase up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.