Summit Global Investments Acquires 163 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Summit Global Investments boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,303 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the quarter. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $1,618,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 56.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,538,533 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $614,568,000 after acquiring an additional 556,809 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 45,740.3% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 291,544 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $142,854,000 after buying an additional 290,908 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 86.5% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 342,547 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $136,451,000 after buying an additional 158,897 shares in the last quarter. Scopus Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 3rd quarter worth $39,945,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 74.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 221,882 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $88,630,000 after acquiring an additional 94,581 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ulta Beauty

In related news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the business’s 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 directly 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Ulta Beauty news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were 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 directly 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 this link. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,552 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,326 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA traded up $0.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $397.39. The company had a trading volume of 591,313 shares, compared to its average volume of 763,636. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $489.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $468.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.36. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.55 EPS for the current year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 reacquire up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on ULTA. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $535.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective 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. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $350.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $548.05.

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.