Twin Capital Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Twin Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,178 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 112 shares during the quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $2,047,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ULTA. Prudential PLC purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the first quarter valued at $425,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,886,434 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,344,096,000 after purchasing an additional 40,190 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 2.8% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,299 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,305,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 38.6% during the first quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,117 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 59.1% in the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA opened at $425.11 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $514.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $467.55. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 52-week low of $368.02 and a 52-week high of $574.76. The firm has a market cap of $20.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.30.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 61.64%. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.68 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, March 14th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty retailer to repurchase up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $665.00 to $595.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Ulta Beauty from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” 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 given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $561.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the firm’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 value of $263,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $876,222.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $876,222.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total value of $1,629,325.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.