Westover Capital Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Westover Capital Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 40.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,800 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 3,263 shares during the period. Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $2,352,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ULTA. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 20.9% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 15,756 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,294,000 after buying an additional 2,725 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 10.6% during the third quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 14,602 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $5,833,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 35.6% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 7,713 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,081,000 after purchasing an additional 2,025 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 24.2% during the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 16,306 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,513,000 after purchasing an additional 3,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 10.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 72,415 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,926,000 after purchasing an additional 7,098 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were 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 owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total transaction of $263,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $876,222.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total transaction of $11,027,870.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Ulta Beauty stock traded down $4.33 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $397.78. The company had a trading volume of 428,434 shares, compared to its average volume of 762,945. The company has a market capitalization of $19.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $492.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $469.32.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.49 by $0.59. The company had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 61.64%. Ulta Beauty’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.68 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback 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 shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ULTA shares. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Ulta Beauty from $665.00 to $595.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $595.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $548.05.

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.