Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Insider Jodi J. Caro Sells 650 Shares

Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) insider Jodi J. Caro sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $388.68, for a total transaction of $252,642.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,643,412.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA traded down $1.93 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $385.95. 924,843 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 814,447. The company’s fifty day moving average is $393.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $464.34. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $368.02 and a fifty-two week high of $574.76. The stock has a market cap of $18.42 billion, a PE ratio of 15.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.36.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The specialty retailer reported $6.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.19 by $0.28. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 11.13% and a return on equity of 58.06%. The company had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.88 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 25.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, March 14th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty retailer to buy up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 56.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,538,533 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $614,568,000 after purchasing an additional 556,809 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 33.6% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 544,072 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $284,484,000 after acquiring an additional 136,725 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter worth $263,192,000. Boston Partners increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 47.7% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 476,027 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $246,862,000 after acquiring an additional 153,727 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 357,503 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $186,933,000 after purchasing an additional 4,344 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ULTA has been the subject of several research reports. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $630.00 to $610.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, March 15th. Loop Capital raised shares of Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $438.00 to $412.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $507.30.

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.