New York Life Investment Management LLC Has $3.80 Million Stock Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

New York Life Investment Management LLC cut its stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,748 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 34 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $3,796,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 347.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 71,491 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $35,061,000 after buying an additional 55,508 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,810,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 0.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 284,442 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $113,620,000 after acquiring an additional 2,126 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 27,037 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $13,248,000 after purchasing an additional 1,662 shares during the period. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $656.00 to $635.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $438.00 target price (down from $585.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, March 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $535.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $548.05.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 0.0 %

ULTA opened at $397.39 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $486.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $468.89. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a twelve month low of $368.02 and a twelve month high of $574.76. The stock has a market cap of $19.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.25, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.36.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, March 14th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty retailer to buy up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Ulta Beauty

In related news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director now owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $876,222.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.