537,137 Shares in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Purchased by Norges Bank

Norges Bank bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 537,137 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $263,192,000. Norges Bank owned 1.11% of Ulta Beauty as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ULTA. Nvwm LLC boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $511,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 41.2% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 72 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 4.3% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $214,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 2,828 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,386,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nkcfo LLC lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Nkcfo LLC now owns 183 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock opened at $381.83 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $18.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.66, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.36. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1 year low of $368.02 and a 1 year high of $574.76. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $449.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $471.69.

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 business had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 61.64%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.68 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its board has authorized a stock 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 repurchase up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on ULTA shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $350.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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 reduced their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $630.00 to $610.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $535.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $535.45.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of Ulta Beauty 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 hyperlink. Also, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total transaction of $11,027,870.50. Following the transaction, 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 90 days, insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.