Anchor Capital Advisors LLC Has $74.07 Million Stock Holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 21.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 151,162 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 27,139 shares during the quarter. Ulta Beauty comprises about 2.0% of Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC owned 0.31% of Ulta Beauty worth $74,068,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 56.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,538,533 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $614,568,000 after purchasing an additional 556,809 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 3.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 575,658 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $229,947,000 after purchasing an additional 21,828 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 6.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 570,913 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $228,051,000 after purchasing an additional 33,508 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 86.5% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 342,547 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $136,451,000 after purchasing an additional 158,897 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 15.9% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 293,126 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $117,089,000 after acquiring an additional 40,166 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $876,222.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,420,801.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on ULTA. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $630.00 to $610.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $350.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays cut shares of Ulta Beauty from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $612.00 to $434.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $580.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $548.05.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock traded up $3.65 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $410.04. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 670,337 shares, compared to its average volume of 767,777. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $500.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $469.42. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a one year low of $368.02 and a one year high of $574.76. The stock has a market cap of $19.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.30.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.49 by $0.59. The company 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 firm’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.68 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, March 14th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty retailer to buy up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.