Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Bought by RNC Capital Management LLC

RNC Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 11,546 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $5,657,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. Bar Harbor Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management now owns 2,616 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,282,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 139,483 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $68,345,000 after buying an additional 17,011 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth approximately $280,000. HBW Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth approximately $310,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 41,168 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $20,172,000 after purchasing an additional 2,258 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In other news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were 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 approximately $5,523,936.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total transaction of $263,130.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $876,222.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,326 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on ULTA shares. Barclays lifted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $583.00 to $612.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $485.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $535.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $579.81.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Ulta Beauty stock opened at $513.52 on Thursday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a one year low of $368.02 and a one year high of $574.76. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $524.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $461.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.31.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced 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 analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 61.64%. Ulta Beauty’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.68 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, March 14th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty retailer to reacquire up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Ulta Beauty Profile

Ulta Beauty, Inc operate specialty retail stores selling cosmetics, fragrance, haircare and skincare products, and related accessories and services in the United States. It offers broad assortment of branded and private label beauty products including cosmetics, fragrance, haircare, skincare, bath and body products, professional hair products, and salon styling tools; and salon services, including hair, skin, makeup, and brow services, as well as nail services.