Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Makes New Investment in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 30,400 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $13,222,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Ulta Beauty at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 121.4% in the 4th quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC bought a new position in Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 36.9% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 115 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 60.0% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 144 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In related news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total value of $332,982.32. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,817,429.12. This represents a 10.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 1.8%

ULTA traded up $7.34 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $417.43. The stock had a trading volume of 298,197 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,049,752. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $372.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $385.86. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1 year low of $309.01 and a 1 year high of $460.00. The stock has a market cap of $18.85 billion, a PE ratio of 16.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.06.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $7.13 by $1.33. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The business had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $8.08 EPS. Ulta Beauty's revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Argus downgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Ulta Beauty from $467.00 to $404.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Ulta Beauty from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $384.00 to $423.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $435.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $364.00 to $386.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $424.00.

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.