Chase Investment Counsel Corp Acquires 540 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Chase Investment Counsel Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 29.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,400 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the period. Chase Investment Counsel Corp’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $1,175,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 56.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,538,533 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $614,568,000 after buying an additional 556,809 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 3.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 575,658 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $229,947,000 after purchasing an additional 21,828 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 6.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 570,913 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $228,051,000 after purchasing an additional 33,508 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings 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 valued at $136,451,000 after purchasing an additional 158,897 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 293,126 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $117,089,000 after purchasing an additional 40,166 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ULTA has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $485.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $574.00 to $627.00 in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Loop Capital raised shares of Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $548.05.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ ULTA traded down $1.99 during trading on Monday, hitting $404.40. The company had a trading volume of 264,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 762,632. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a one year low of $368.02 and a one year high of $574.76. The company has a market cap of $19.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s fifty day moving average is $500.18 and its 200-day moving average is $469.42.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.49 by $0.59. The business 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.55 EPS for the current year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, March 14th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty retailer to repurchase up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In other 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total transaction of $263,130.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $876,222.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,552 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,326 over the last 90 days. Corporate 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.