Citizens Business Bank Reduces Stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Citizens Business Bank lowered its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,478 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 317 shares during the period. Citizens Business Bank’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $3,664,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of 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 bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,810,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $113,620,000 after purchasing an additional 2,126 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 6.5% during 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 shares of Ulta Beauty by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $582,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ULTA traded down $5.20 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $404.84. The stock had a trading volume of 904,746 shares, compared to its average volume of 769,469. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a one year low of $368.02 and a one year high of $574.76. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $497.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $469.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.30.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.55 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,523,936.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total value of $263,130.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $876,222.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through 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 shares were sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total value of $11,027,870.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now 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 three months, insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,326. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ULTA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $485.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $350.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $665.00 to $595.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $548.05.

Ulta Beauty 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.