Xponance Inc. Has $7.69 Million Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Xponance Inc. reduced its position in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,695 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 611 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $7,690,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 364.3% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 65 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 59.1% in the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on ULTA. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $480.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $665.00 to $595.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $574.00 to $627.00 in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on Ulta Beauty from $580.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $561.29.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of ULTA stock opened at $413.50 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.30. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a twelve month low of $368.02 and a twelve month high of $574.76. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $511.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $467.62.

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 business had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.68 EPS. Ulta Beauty’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the company’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 owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $876,222.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. 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. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.