Metis Global Partners LLC Trims Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Metis Global Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,739 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 53 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $1,342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 56.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,538,533 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $614,568,000 after purchasing an additional 556,809 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 575,658 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $229,947,000 after buying an additional 21,828 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 570,913 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $228,051,000 after buying an additional 33,508 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 86.5% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 342,547 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $136,451,000 after buying an additional 158,897 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 293,126 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $117,089,000 after buying an additional 40,166 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 1.3 %

ULTA opened at $388.48 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $479.71 and its 200-day moving average is $470.48. The stock has a market cap of $18.62 billion, a PE ratio of 14.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.36. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a twelve month low of $368.02 and a twelve month high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 61.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.68 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.55 EPS for the current year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 14th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty retailer to reacquire up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on ULTA shares. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Ulta Beauty from $656.00 to $635.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 15th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Ulta Beauty from $580.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $480.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $546.86.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,523,936.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. 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. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty 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.