Sheets Smith Wealth Management Grows Stock Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management increased its holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,072 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,253 shares during the quarter. Ulta Beauty accounts for about 1.2% of Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $9,835,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 364.3% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 65 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 7,300.0% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 74 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Ulta Beauty stock traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $397.39. The company had a trading volume of 591,398 shares, compared to its average volume of 796,369. The firm has a market cap of $19.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $486.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $470.17. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1 year low of $368.02 and a 1 year 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.55 EPS for the current year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 14th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty retailer to purchase up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,420,801.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of Ulta Beauty 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reissued 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. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $574.00 to $627.00 in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $548.05.

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.