Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. Grows Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 12.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,430 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $1,492,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Virtu Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 50.3% during the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 5,086 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,979,000 after buying an additional 1,702 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 151.5% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Ulta Beauty by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,920 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,136,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Rule One Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,179,000. Finally, Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 9,589 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,731,000 after purchasing an additional 1,057 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

ULTA opened at $383.67 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.38 billion, a PE ratio of 15.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.16. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 12-month low of $309.01 and a 12-month high of $460.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $358.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $382.46.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.13 by $1.33. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 51.95% and a net margin of 10.58%. The business had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $8.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on ULTA shares. Citigroup dropped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $405.00 to $365.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Ulta Beauty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $384.00 to $423.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $360.00 to $310.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $538.00 to $526.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $427.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In related news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total value of $332,982.32. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,817,429.12. This trade represents a 10.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.