Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Bought by Van Leeuwen & Company LLC

Van Leeuwen & Company LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 552.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,323 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 2,814 shares during the period. Van Leeuwen & Company LLC's holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $1,628,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 364.3% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 65 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 7,300.0% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 74 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total value of $263,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at $876,222.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the company'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 sale, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at $876,222.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total transaction of $1,629,325.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326 in the last ninety days. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ULTA traded up $4.92 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $401.59. 664,550 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 758,764. The stock has a market cap of $19.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.36. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $368.02 and a fifty-two week high of $574.76. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $473.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $469.40.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $7.49 by $0.59. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.53 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 61.64%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.68 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on ULTA. Barclays lowered Ulta Beauty from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $612.00 to $434.00 in a report on Monday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $438.00 price target (down previously from $585.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, April 19th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $485.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $580.00 to $520.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $546.86.

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.