Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Acquired by Fiera Capital Corp

Fiera Capital Corp raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,945 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $953,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 56.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,538,533 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $614,568,000 after buying an additional 556,809 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 45,740.3% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 291,544 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $142,854,000 after purchasing an additional 290,908 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 86.5% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 342,547 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $136,451,000 after purchasing an additional 158,897 shares during the period. Scopus Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,945,000. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 74.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 221,882 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $88,630,000 after buying an additional 94,581 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $399.56 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $19.15 billion, a PE ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 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 has a 50-day simple moving average of $455.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $470.38.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $6.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 14th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty retailer to buy up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total value of $1,629,325.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at $1,420,801.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,326. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ULTA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Ulta Beauty from $656.00 to $635.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $438.00 target price (down from $585.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $485.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently 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.