EFG Asset Management North America Corp. Cuts Stock Holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

EFG Asset Management North America Corp. trimmed its position in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 26.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,004 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 2,148 shares during the quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp.'s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $2,942,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ULTA. Summit Trail Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ulta Beauty by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 549 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $219,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Money Concepts Capital Corp raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 23.0% in the 3rd quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 4,151 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,658,000 after buying an additional 777 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 13.1% in the third quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 4,456 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,780,000 after buying an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 4.0% during the third quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 2,600 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,039,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. MA increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.0% during the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 253,856 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $101,403,000 after acquiring an additional 2,496 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:ULTA traded down $1.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $399.56. 528,520 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 752,741. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $458.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $470.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.36. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1 year low of $368.02 and a 1 year high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $7.49 by $0.59. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 61.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.68 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.42 EPS for the current year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its board has authorized a share buyback 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 repurchase up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $605.00 to $476.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. 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 report on Thursday, February 15th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Ulta Beauty from $580.00 to $520.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $574.00 to $627.00 in a research note on Friday, March 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $539.55.

Ulta Beauty 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.

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