Lafayette Investments Inc. Grows Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Lafayette Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,447 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $2,179,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 364.3% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 65 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in Ulta Beauty by 59.1% in the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on ULTA shares. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Ulta Beauty from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Loop Capital upgraded Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Ulta Beauty from $665.00 to $595.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Ulta Beauty from $485.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $561.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $876,222.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of Ulta Beauty 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total transaction of $263,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $876,222.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

ULTA stock traded down $11.88 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $413.23. 360,426 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 763,251. The firm has a market cap of $19.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $514.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $467.55. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1-year low of $368.02 and a 1-year high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 61.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.68 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, March 14th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty retailer to purchase up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.