Metis Global Partners LLC Trims Holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Metis Global Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,739 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 53 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $1,342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 56.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,538,533 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $614,568,000 after buying an additional 556,809 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 575,658 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $229,947,000 after purchasing an additional 21,828 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 6.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 570,913 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $228,051,000 after purchasing an additional 33,508 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 86.5% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 342,547 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $136,451,000 after buying an additional 158,897 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 15.9% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 293,126 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $117,089,000 after buying an additional 40,166 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, 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 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 can be accessed through this link. In other Ulta Beauty news, 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 transaction of $263,130.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $876,222.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $1,629,325.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,326 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

NASDAQ ULTA opened at $388.48 on Thursday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1 year low of $368.02 and a 1 year high of $574.76. The company has a market capitalization of $18.62 billion, a PE ratio of 14.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a fifty day moving average of $479.71 and a 200 day moving average of $470.48.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.49 by $0.59. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion during 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.68 EPS. Research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, March 14th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty retailer to reacquire up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ULTA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James cut their price target on Ulta Beauty from $630.00 to $610.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $350.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays cut shares of Ulta Beauty from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $612.00 to $434.00 in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Ulta Beauty from $574.00 to $627.00 in a report on Friday, March 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $546.86.

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.