Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA – Get Rating) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,107 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 95 shares during the quarter. Ulta Beauty comprises approximately 2.0% of Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $1,457,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ULTA. Prudential PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $425,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,886,434 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,344,096,000 after buying an additional 40,190 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,299 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,305,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 38.6% during the 1st quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,117 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $444,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 59.1% during the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In related news, Director Mike C. Smith sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.63, for a total value of $208,652.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $798,615.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of ULTA opened at $506.46 on Friday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1-year low of $330.80 and a 1-year high of $537.52. The stock has a market cap of $25.77 billion, a PE ratio of 21.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $513.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $460.07.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 9th. The specialty retailer reported $6.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.53 by $1.15. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 12.17% and a return on equity of 67.19%. The firm had revenue of $3.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.41 earnings per share. Ulta Beauty’s quarterly revenue was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 25.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ULTA has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $390.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $510.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 13th. Credit Suisse Group lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $535.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 10th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $548.00 to $636.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $555.09.

About Ulta Beauty

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Ulta Beauty, Inc engages in the retail of beauty products. The company has one reportable segment, which includes retail stores, salon services, and e-commerce. Its products include makeup, skin care, tools and brushes, fragrance, and bath and body. Ulta was founded on January 9, 1990, and is headquartered in Bolingbrook, IL.