Carret Asset Management LLC Raises Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Carret Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 98.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,560 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,272 shares during the period. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $1,339,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 71.1% in the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 91,284 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $47,730,000 after buying an additional 37,932 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE lifted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 1.2% in the first quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 28,251 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $14,772,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the period. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the first quarter worth about $1,495,000. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the first quarter valued at approximately $5,253,000. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 24.6% during the first quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 2,959 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,547,000 after purchasing an additional 585 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $425.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $485.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $438.00 to $412.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $625.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $605.00 to $476.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine 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, Ulta Beauty currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.87.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In related news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $390.08, for a total transaction of $39,008.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $786,791.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $390.08, for a total transaction of $39,008.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $786,791.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 650 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $388.68, for a total transaction of $252,642.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,643,412.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock opened at $389.67 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $391.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $461.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.60 billion, a PE ratio of 15.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1-year low of $368.02 and a 1-year high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The specialty retailer reported $6.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.19 by $0.28. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 11.13% and a return on equity of 58.06%. The business had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.88 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 25.76 EPS for the current year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, March 14th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty retailer to reacquire up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.