Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Increases Stock Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,755 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $1,840,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ULTA shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $485.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $438.00 price objective (down previously from $585.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Ulta Beauty from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $556.52.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

ULTA traded down $11.29 on Wednesday, reaching $407.98. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 414,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 765,433. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1 year low of $368.02 and a 1 year high of $574.76. The business’s 50 day moving average is $507.45 and its 200 day moving average is $469.06. The stock has a market cap of $19.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.30.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 61.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. Ulta Beauty’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.68 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 14th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty retailer to repurchase up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Ulta Beauty 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at $5,523,936.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $876,222.90. 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 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.