Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Position Raised by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 3.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,881 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Ulta Beauty by 120.2% during the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 14,448 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $7,079,000 after acquiring an additional 7,887 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 347.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 71,491 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $35,061,000 after purchasing an additional 55,508 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,810,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 27,037 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $13,248,000 after buying an additional 1,662 shares during the period. Finally, Warther Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter valued at $6,023,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 3.0 %

ULTA stock traded up $12.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $412.94. The stock had a trading volume of 841,954 shares, compared to its average volume of 806,367. The firm has a market cap of $19.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.96, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $389.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $457.29. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a twelve month low of $368.02 and a twelve month high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its 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 return on equity of 58.06% and a net margin of 11.13%. The firm had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 25.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback 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 reacquire up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $390.08, for a total value of $39,008.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,017 shares in the company, valued at $786,791.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,801 shares in the company, valued at $2,643,412.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.08, for a total value of $39,008.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $786,791.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $498.00 to $494.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Ulta Beauty from $565.00 to $475.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $530.00 to $544.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $630.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $630.00 to $610.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.70.

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.