Norden Group LLC Increases Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Norden Group LLC increased its holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 2,299.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,928 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,139 shares during the quarter. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $9,897,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 56.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,538,533 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $614,568,000 after buying an additional 556,809 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth $263,192,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the first quarter valued at $176,753,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 45,740.3% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 291,544 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $142,854,000 after purchasing an additional 290,908 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 177.8% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 407,347 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $199,596,000 after purchasing an additional 260,740 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $388.68, for a total transaction of $252,642.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,801 shares in the company, valued at $2,643,412.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.08, for a total value of $39,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,017 shares in the company, valued at $786,791.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $388.68, for a total value of $252,642.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,643,412.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ULTA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $630.00 to $610.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup dropped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $485.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $530.00 to $544.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Loop Capital raised shares of Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $595.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, March 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.87.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock opened at $389.67 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $391.22 and a 200 day moving average of $461.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.20, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $368.02 and a fifty-two week high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The specialty retailer reported $6.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.19 by $0.28. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 11.13% and a return on equity of 58.06%. The business had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.88 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 25.76 EPS for the current year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, March 14th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty retailer to buy up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.