Forte Capital LLC ADV Lowers Holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Forte Capital LLC ADV lowered its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,887 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,421 shares during the period. Ulta Beauty accounts for about 2.1% of Forte Capital LLC ADV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Forte Capital LLC ADV owned about 0.06% of Ulta Beauty worth $15,134,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ULTA. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Ulta Beauty by 4.3% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 2,828 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,386,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 24.5% during the third quarter. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC now owns 127 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 1.4% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,820 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $727,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Phoenix Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 2.6% in the third quarter. Phoenix Wealth Advisors now owns 1,106 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $442,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ULTA has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $580.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Raymond James lowered their price target 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. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $656.00 to $635.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 15th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $612.00 to $434.00 in a research note on Monday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $548.05.

Ulta Beauty Trading Up 0.0 %

ULTA traded up $0.06 on Friday, reaching $397.39. The stock had a trading volume of 591,398 shares, compared to its average volume of 796,369. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $486.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $468.89. The company has a market cap of $19.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.36. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 12-month low of $368.02 and a 12-month high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.49 by $0.59. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 61.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. Ulta Beauty’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.68 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, March 14th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty retailer to reacquire up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Ulta Beauty

In related news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total value of $1,629,325.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total value of $1,629,325.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 value of $263,130.00. Following the sale, the director now 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 a total of 24,552 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,326 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.