Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. Invests $233,000 in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 472 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $233,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT grew its stake in Ulta Beauty by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 1,260 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $591,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Ulta Beauty by 4.3% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC grew its stake in Ulta Beauty by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 2,852 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,338,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wetherby Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Ulta Beauty by 4.9% in the first quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 491 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $425.11 on Friday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 12 month low of $368.02 and a 12 month high of $574.76. The stock has a market cap of $20.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $514.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $467.55.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.49 by $0.59. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 61.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.68 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.74 EPS for the current year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,420,801.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $876,222.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $1,629,325.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at $1,420,801.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,326. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on ULTA. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $656.00 to $635.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $480.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $568.29.

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.