Signaturefd LLC Acquires 160 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 22.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 877 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $430,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 56.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,538,533 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $614,568,000 after acquiring an additional 556,809 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 3.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 575,658 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $229,947,000 after purchasing an additional 21,828 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 6.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 570,913 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $228,051,000 after purchasing an additional 33,508 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 86.5% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 342,547 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $136,451,000 after purchasing an additional 158,897 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 15.9% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 293,126 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $117,089,000 after purchasing an additional 40,166 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ULTA shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $438.00 target price (down from $585.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, April 19th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $485.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $665.00 to $595.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $656.00 to $635.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $556.52.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of ULTA stock opened at $410.55 on Thursday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1 year low of $368.02 and a 1 year high of $574.76. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $505.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $468.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.76, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.30.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.49 by $0.59. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 61.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.68 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, March 14th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty retailer to reacquire up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In other news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total transaction of $263,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $876,222.90. 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. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.