Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Acquired by Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC

Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,213 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $594,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nvwm LLC grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $511,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 41.2% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 72 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $214,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.8% in the 4th 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% in the 4th quarter. Nkcfo LLC now owns 183 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays downgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $612.00 to $434.00 in a research report on Monday, April 29th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $565.00 to $475.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of 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, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $535.45.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ ULTA opened at $378.33 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $445.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $471.04. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 12-month low of $368.02 and a 12-month high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.43 EPS for the current year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the company’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 sale, the director now owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $876,222.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,326. 0.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.