Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 123,513 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 2,378 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned 0.25% of Ulta Beauty worth $60,520,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 59.1% during the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on ULTA shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $480.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Ulta Beauty from $665.00 to $595.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, March 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $485.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased 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 note on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $568.29.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Ulta Beauty stock opened at $425.11 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $514.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $467.55. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 12 month low of $368.02 and a 12 month high of $574.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.52 billion, a PE ratio of 16.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.30.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.49 by $0.59. The company 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%. Ulta Beauty’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.68 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.74 EPS for the current year.

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

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In other news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total transaction of $263,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $876,222.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $876,222.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

About Ulta Beauty

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.