3,000 Shares in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Bought by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,470,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 125.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,530,543 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $717,932,000 after acquiring an additional 852,258 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 56.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,538,533 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $614,568,000 after acquiring an additional 556,809 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at about $205,146,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 45,740.3% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 291,544 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $142,854,000 after acquiring an additional 290,908 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 86.5% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 342,547 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $136,451,000 after acquiring an additional 158,897 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $876,222.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,326 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ULTA shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $656.00 to $635.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 15th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $574.00 to $627.00 in a research report on Friday, March 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $561.29.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA opened at $413.50 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $511.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $468.13. The company has a market cap of $19.96 billion, a PE ratio of 15.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.30. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 52-week low of $368.02 and a 52-week high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.49 by $0.59. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion for 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 revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.68 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, March 14th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty retailer to purchase up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.