Foundry Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Foundry Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 461 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 23,365 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $11,449,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,857 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $910,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 4,654 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,280,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 877 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $430,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robbins Farley boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 5,868 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,875,000 after acquiring an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Ulta Beauty stock opened at $419.27 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $20.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $507.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $469.06. 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. Research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, March 14th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty retailer to reacquire up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ULTA shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $438.00 target price (down previously from $585.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $630.00 to $610.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $583.00 to $612.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $561.29.

Insider Activity

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at $1,420,801.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. 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.

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.