Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Holdings Raised by Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,102 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $2,990,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. WD Rutherford LLC raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. WD Rutherford LLC now owns 2,542 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,212,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter worth about $2,986,000. Bfsg LLC raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 53.0% in the fourth quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 6,258 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,066,000 after acquiring an additional 2,167 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter worth about $93,000. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,755 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,840,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $350.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $580.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $665.00 to $595.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $480.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $556.52.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:ULTA traded down $1.62 on Friday, hitting $406.39. 637,675 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,044,163. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1 year low of $368.02 and a 1 year high of $574.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $500.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $19.48 billion, a PE ratio of 15.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.30.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.68 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, 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 initiated a share 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 typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total value of $1,629,325.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at $1,420,801.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total value of $1,629,325.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at $1,420,801.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 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. Over the last quarter, 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.