Todd Asset Management LLC Buys 13,673 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Todd Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 37.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 50,452 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,673 shares during the quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $24,721,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 2,828 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,386,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 24.5% during the third quarter. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC now owns 127 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.4% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,820 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $727,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Phoenix Wealth Advisors increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of ULTA stock traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $397.39. The company had a trading volume of 591,398 shares, compared to its average volume of 796,369. The company has a market cap of $19.05 billion, a price-to-earnings 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. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $486.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $468.89.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 61.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.68 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its board has approved 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 an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group upped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $438.00 target price (down previously from $585.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $350.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $535.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. One 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 given 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 an average target price of $548.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the business’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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider now owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at $1,420,801.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,523,936.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company 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.