Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Stake Lessened by Citizens Business Bank

Citizens Business Bank lessened its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,478 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 317 shares during the quarter. Citizens Business Bank’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $3,664,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 364.3% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 65 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 7,300.0% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 74 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 10,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was 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 directly owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at $5,523,936.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $876,222.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of ULTA stock traded down $5.20 on Tuesday, hitting $404.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 904,746 shares, compared to its average volume of 769,469. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.30. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $368.02 and a fifty-two week high of $574.76. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $497.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $469.61.

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

Ulta Beauty announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 14th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty retailer to repurchase up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ULTA. Loop Capital raised Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 8th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $580.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Ulta Beauty from $665.00 to $595.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $548.05.

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.