Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Bought by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 23,365 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $11,449,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,857 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $910,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 4,654 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,280,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 877 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Robbins Farley lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 5,868 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,875,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 40.8% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ULTA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $580.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, March 15th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $665.00 to $595.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $595.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, March 15th. One investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $561.29.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA opened at $419.27 on Wednesday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1-year low of $368.02 and a 1-year high of $574.76. The company has a market cap of $20.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $507.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $469.06.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.49 by $0.59. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 61.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.68 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total value of $1,629,325.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was 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 sale 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 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $876,222.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.