Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Bought by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 62.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,540 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 2,888 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV's holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $3,695,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 347.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 71,491 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $35,061,000 after purchasing an additional 55,508 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,810,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 284,442 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $113,620,000 after buying an additional 2,126 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake in Ulta Beauty by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 27,037 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $13,248,000 after acquiring an additional 1,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Warther Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,023,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Barclays lowered shares of Ulta Beauty from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $612.00 to $434.00 in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and issued a $438.00 target price (down from $585.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $475.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $485.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $535.45.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ:ULTA traded down $4.67 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $381.83. 940,397 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 757,047. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a twelve month low of $368.02 and a twelve month high of $574.76. The stock's 50-day moving average is $452.59 and its 200-day moving average is $471.72. The firm has a market cap of $18.30 billion, a PE ratio of 14.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.36.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last issued 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. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 61.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.68 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.42 EPS for the current year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase 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 purchase up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were 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 owns 10,494 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction 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 approximately $876,222.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.39% of the company's stock.

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.