Schear Investment Advisers LLC Purchases 39 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Schear Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,446 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 39 shares during the quarter. Ulta Beauty accounts for 1.2% of Schear Investment Advisers LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Schear Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $1,199,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 364.3% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 65 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 59.1% in the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of ULTA traded down $10.28 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $414.83. 695,870 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 767,526. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 12 month low of $368.02 and a 12 month high of $574.76. The company has a market capitalization of $20.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $514.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $467.55.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued 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. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 61.64%. The company had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.68 EPS. Ulta Beauty’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.74 EPS for the current year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, March 14th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty retailer to purchase up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on ULTA shares. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $656.00 to $635.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $561.29.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In related news, 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 transaction of $1,629,325.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Ulta Beauty news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total value of $263,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $876,222.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total transaction of $1,629,325.50. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 valued at $12,920,326 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.