Bourgeon Capital Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Bourgeon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 50.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 750 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $367,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prudential PLC purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the first quarter worth about $425,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,886,434 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,344,096,000 after purchasing an additional 40,190 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 2.8% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,299 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,305,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 38.6% in the first quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,117 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 59.1% in the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Ulta Beauty stock traded down $9.23 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $433.09. 469,751 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 753,977. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $520.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $467.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.30. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 52-week low of $368.02 and a 52-week high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 61.64%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.68 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.74 EPS for the current year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, March 14th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty retailer to buy up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ULTA shares. BMO Capital Markets raised 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 report on Friday, March 15th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $656.00 to $635.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $665.00 to $595.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $535.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, March 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $570.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In other news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total value of $263,130.00. Following 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 is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,326. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.