Signaturefd LLC Boosts Holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 22.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 877 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $430,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 364.3% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 65 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 7,300.0% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 74 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ULTA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $574.00 to $627.00 in a report on Friday, March 15th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, April 8th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $350.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $556.52.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,420,801.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director now directly 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 at this hyperlink. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 three months, insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of ULTA stock opened at $410.55 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.82 billion, a PE ratio of 15.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $505.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $468.65. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a twelve month low of $368.02 and a twelve month high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 61.64%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.68 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.55 EPS for the current year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback 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 repurchase up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.