Federated Hermes Inc. Has $30.98 Million Holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Federated Hermes Inc. decreased its stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 63,223 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 4,552 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Ulta Beauty worth $30,979,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Prudential PLC acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the first quarter valued at about $425,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,886,434 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,344,096,000 after acquiring an additional 40,190 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,299 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,305,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 38.6% during the 1st quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,117 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 59.1% during the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

ULTA opened at $413.50 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $511.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $468.13. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a one year low of $368.02 and a one year high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.49 by $0.59. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 61.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.68 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.74 EPS for the current year.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays raised 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. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $580.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $595.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. One research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $561.29.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total transaction of $1,629,325.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total value of $263,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $876,222.90. 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 over the last 90 days. 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.