Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Boosts Stock Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 71.1% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 91,284 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 37,932 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $47,730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Vima LLC bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 7,300.0% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 74 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock traded up $2.88 on Tuesday, reaching $387.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 38,197 shares, compared to its average volume of 808,697. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 52 week low of $368.02 and a 52 week high of $574.76. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $392.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $462.71. The company has a market capitalization of $18.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.37.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The specialty retailer reported $6.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.19 by $0.28. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 58.06% and a net margin of 11.13%. The company had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.72 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.88 EPS. Ulta Beauty’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 25.76 EPS for the current year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 14th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty retailer to buy up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ULTA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Ulta Beauty from $625.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. UBS Group raised their target price on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Ulta Beauty from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.87.

Insider Transactions at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $388.68, for a total transaction of $252,642.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,643,412.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty 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.