Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Stake Boosted by Lafayette Investments Inc.

Lafayette Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,447 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $2,179,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 125.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,530,543 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $717,932,000 after buying an additional 852,258 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 56.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,538,533 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $614,568,000 after acquiring an additional 556,809 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at about $205,146,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 45,740.3% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 291,544 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $142,854,000 after buying an additional 290,908 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 86.5% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 342,547 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $136,451,000 after acquiring an additional 158,897 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on ULTA. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a 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 for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays boosted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $583.00 to $612.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on Ulta Beauty from $580.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $561.29.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were 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 $5,523,936.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Ulta Beauty news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total transaction of $11,027,870.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at $5,523,936.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total transaction of $263,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at $876,222.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,326 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

ULTA traded down $11.88 during trading on Friday, hitting $413.23. The stock had a trading volume of 360,426 shares, compared to its average volume of 763,251. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a twelve month low of $368.02 and a twelve month high of $574.76. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $514.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $467.55. The company has a market capitalization of $19.95 billion, a PE ratio of 15.99, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.30.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.49 by $0.59. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 61.64%. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.68 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.74 EPS for the current year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 buy up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.