Yousif Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Yousif Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 22.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,549 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,871 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $3,209,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 248.1% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,329 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $930,000 after buying an additional 1,660 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 46.8% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 8,705 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,477,000 after purchasing an additional 2,775 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 23,891 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $9,543,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the 3rd quarter valued at about $215,000. Finally, Cavalier Investments LLC grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cavalier Investments LLC now owns 3,838 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,533,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of ULTA stock opened at $406.39 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $19.48 billion, a PE ratio of 15.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.30. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1 year low of $368.02 and a 1 year high of $574.76. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $500.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $469.42.

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

Ulta Beauty declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, March 14th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty retailer to repurchase up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were 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 owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at $876,222.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of Ulta Beauty 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $583.00 to $612.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Raymond James lowered their price target on Ulta Beauty from $630.00 to $610.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $580.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $656.00 to $635.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $438.00 price objective (down from $585.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, April 19th. One equities research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $556.52.

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.