Waycross Partners LLC Trims Holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Waycross Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 24.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 22,904 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 7,589 shares during the period. Ulta Beauty makes up about 2.1% of Waycross Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Waycross Partners LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $11,223,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 347.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 71,491 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $35,061,000 after purchasing an additional 55,508 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,810,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 0.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 284,442 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $113,620,000 after buying an additional 2,126 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 27,037 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $13,248,000 after buying an additional 1,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Ulta Beauty from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $350.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $438.00 target price (down from $585.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $574.00 to $627.00 in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $656.00 to $635.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $548.05.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of ULTA stock traded down $5.20 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $404.84. The stock had a trading volume of 904,746 shares, compared to its average volume of 769,469. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a twelve month low of $368.02 and a twelve month high of $574.76. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $495.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $469.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.41 billion, a PE ratio of 15.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.30.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its 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 net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 61.64%. Ulta Beauty’s revenue 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. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,420,801.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of Ulta Beauty 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at $1,420,801.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total transaction of $11,027,870.50. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Insiders sold a total of 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.