Federated Hermes Inc. Has $30.98 Million Holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Federated Hermes Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 63,223 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 4,552 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $30,979,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $233,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 6,142 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,010,000 after buying an additional 760 shares during the last quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. lifted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 47.1% during the 4th quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. now owns 1,483 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $722,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Alliance boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,433 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $702,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First American Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 42.1% in the 4th quarter. First American Trust FSB now owns 12,392 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,072,000 after acquiring an additional 3,674 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA opened at $413.50 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $19.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $511.83 and its 200 day moving average is $468.13. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1-year low of $368.02 and a 1-year high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.49 by $0.59. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 61.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback 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 repurchase up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ULTA shares. Evercore ISI dropped 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. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Raymond James reduced their target price on Ulta Beauty from $630.00 to $610.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $580.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $561.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was 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 owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at $5,523,936.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Ulta Beauty news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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.

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.