Peterson Wealth Services Sells 657 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Peterson Wealth Services cut its holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 15.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,663 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 657 shares during the period. Peterson Wealth Services’ holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $1,794,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB increased 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 worth $35,061,000 after purchasing an additional 55,508 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,810,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $113,620,000 after acquiring an additional 2,126 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Asio Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 64.3% in the 4th quarter. Asio Capital LLC now owns 10,171 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,984,000 after acquiring an additional 3,980 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

NASDAQ:ULTA traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $424.54. The stock had a trading volume of 208,576 shares, compared to its average volume of 759,980. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $515.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $467.84. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1-year low of $368.02 and a 1-year high of $574.76. The company has a market capitalization of $20.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.30.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.68 EPS. Ulta Beauty’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its board has authorized a stock 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In related news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total transaction of $1,629,325.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the firm’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 $876,222.90. 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ULTA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $574.00 to $627.00 in a report on Friday, March 15th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $583.00 to $612.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $568.29.

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.