Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 9,898 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lessened its stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 396,835 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 9,898 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.82% of Ulta Beauty worth $194,439,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 29,547 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $14,478,000 after acquiring an additional 1,856 shares during the period. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 572 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,023,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,299,000. Finally, Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc lifted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 69.7% in the 4th quarter. Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc now owns 16,242 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $7,958,000 after buying an additional 6,669 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total transaction of $263,130.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at $876,222.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,523,936.66. 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 over the last quarter. 0.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock traded down $2.37 during trading on Thursday, reaching $401.04. The company had a trading volume of 516,470 shares, compared to its average volume of 755,046. The firm's fifty day moving average is $461.59 and its 200-day moving average is $470.73. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $368.02 and a fifty-two week high of $574.76. The company has a market cap of $19.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.36.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.49 by $0.59. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion for 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.68 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.48 EPS for the current fiscal 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on ULTA shares. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $580.00 to $520.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Ulta Beauty from $605.00 to $476.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $535.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $612.00 to $434.00 in a research note on Monday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $539.55.

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.