Twin Capital Management Inc. Sells 112 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Twin Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,178 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 112 shares during the period. Twin Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $2,047,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 125.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,530,543 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $717,932,000 after acquiring an additional 852,258 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 56.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,538,533 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $614,568,000 after acquiring an additional 556,809 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter worth $205,146,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Ulta Beauty by 45,740.3% during 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 buying an additional 290,908 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 86.5% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 342,547 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $136,451,000 after purchasing an additional 158,897 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA opened at $425.11 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $514.01 and its 200-day moving average is $467.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.52 billion, a PE ratio of 16.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.30. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1 year low of $368.02 and a 1 year high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.49 by $0.59. The business 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.68 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,523,936.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, 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 value of $11,027,870.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction 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 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,326. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ULTA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $583.00 to $612.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $580.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $574.00 to $627.00 in a report on Friday, March 15th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $595.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $561.29.

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.