Simplicity Solutions LLC Sells 31 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Simplicity Solutions LLC decreased its holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 664 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 31 shares during the quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 38.1% in the 4th quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,204 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $590,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth $807,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Alpha Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth $246,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 80.9% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $746,000 after buying an additional 681 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ULTA. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Ulta Beauty from $574.00 to $627.00 in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $561.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $876,222.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director now owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $876,222.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total value of $11,027,870.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,326 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA opened at $413.50 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $511.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $467.62. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1-year low of $368.02 and a 1-year high of $574.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.87, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.30.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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