Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Has $26.14 Million Stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 37.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 53,352 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 14,643 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned approximately 0.11% of Ulta Beauty worth $26,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 1,260 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $591,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 2,852 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,338,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 535 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $214,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 491 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 2,828 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,386,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ULTA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $595.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $656.00 to $635.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $635.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $480.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $535.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $575.45.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock traded down $3.89 on Friday, hitting $444.75. 1,230,784 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,157,362. The stock has a market cap of $21.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.07, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. The firm's 50-day moving average is $526.20 and its 200 day moving average is $465.86. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 52-week low of $368.02 and a 52-week high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.49 by $0.59. The company had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.53 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 61.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. The business's revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.68 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.81 EPS for the current year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 14th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty retailer to purchase up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total value of $1,629,325.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at $1,420,801.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ulta Beauty Company Profile

Ulta Beauty, Inc operate specialty retail stores selling cosmetics, fragrance, haircare and skincare products, and related accessories and services in the United States. It offers broad assortment of branded and private label beauty products including cosmetics, fragrance, haircare, skincare, bath and body products, professional hair products, and salon styling tools; and salon services, including hair, skin, makeup, and brow services, as well as nail services.