456 Shares in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Purchased by Fidelis Capital Partners LLC

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 456 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bender Robert & Associates boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Bender Robert & Associates now owns 26,222 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $12,849,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $233,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 6,142 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,010,000 after acquiring an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 47.1% during the 4th quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. now owns 1,483 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $722,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Alliance boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,433 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $702,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 2.7 %

ULTA opened at $413.50 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $511.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $468.13. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 52 week low of $368.02 and a 52 week high of $574.76. The company has a market capitalization of $19.96 billion, a PE ratio of 15.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.30.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 61.64%. The business’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.68 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, March 14th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty retailer to purchase up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 transaction of $11,027,870.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total transaction of $1,629,325.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 transaction of $11,027,870.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at $5,523,936.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $656.00 to $635.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $438.00 price target (down from $585.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $480.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Raymond James dropped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $630.00 to $610.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital raised Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $561.29.

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.