Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Has $2.99 Million Stock Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,102 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $2,990,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 364.3% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 65 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 7,300.0% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 74 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ULTA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Raymond James cut their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $630.00 to $610.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, March 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $556.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $1,420,801.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $1,420,801.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total value of $263,130.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares in the company, valued at $876,222.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,326 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ULTA traded down $1.62 during trading on Friday, hitting $406.39. 637,675 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,044,163. The stock has a market cap of $19.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.30. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $368.02 and a fifty-two week high of $574.76. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $500.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $468.35.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.49 by $0.59. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.68 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 26.55 EPS for the current year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.