New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 4,252 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

New York State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,700 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 4,252 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.11% of Ulta Beauty worth $26,312,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 347.3% during the 4th 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 during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 284,442 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $113,620,000 after acquiring an additional 2,126 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,188 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $582,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Asio Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 64.3% in the 4th quarter. Asio Capital LLC now owns 10,171 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $4,984,000 after acquiring an additional 3,980 shares during the period. Finally, AXQ Capital LP bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 3rd quarter valued at about $879,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Ulta Beauty news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total value of $11,027,870.50. Following 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total value of $263,130.00. Following 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 ninety days, insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ulta Beauty Trading Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ ULTA opened at $452.78 on Tuesday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $525.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $466.21. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1 year low of $368.02 and a 1 year high of $574.76. The company has a market cap of $21.86 billion, a PE ratio of 17.38, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.30.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.68 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 14th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty retailer to repurchase up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Ulta Beauty from $635.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $575.45.

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.