Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Makes New Investment in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 83,794 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $36,445,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI owned 0.18% of Ulta Beauty as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,199,935 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $520,587,000 after buying an additional 11,205 shares during the period. Capital World Investors purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $430,674,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 655,561 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $285,123,000 after buying an additional 9,291 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 562,155 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $244,498,000 after buying an additional 72,004 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $239,432,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ULTA. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $538.00 to $526.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, B. Riley dropped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $430.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $426.08.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In related news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total transaction of $332,982.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,817,429.12. This represents a 10.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 0.7%

NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $410.09 on Tuesday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 12-month low of $309.01 and a 12-month high of $460.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $372.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $385.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.06.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $8.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.