Geneva Capital Management LLC Has $24.92 Million Holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Geneva Capital Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 50,855 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,812 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $24,919,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. RMR Wealth Builders boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 2,713 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,329,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the period. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. bought a new position in Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth $361,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 289,442 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $141,824,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 955 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ulta Beauty

In related news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Ulta Beauty news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 10,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,523,936.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ULTA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $535.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $574.00 to $627.00 in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $438.00 price target (down previously from $585.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, March 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $546.86.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

ULTA traded up $8.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $396.67. The stock had a trading volume of 591,689 shares, compared to its average volume of 763,036. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $476.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $469.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.36. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 52 week low of $368.02 and a 52 week high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.49 by $0.59. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 61.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.68 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 14th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty retailer to purchase up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Ulta Beauty Company 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.