KBC Group NV Purchases 22,392 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

KBC Group NV increased its position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 305.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,726 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 22,392 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.06% of Ulta Beauty worth $11,567,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ULTA. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 83.3% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 66 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Paladin Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the second quarter worth about $36,000. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on ULTA. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Ulta Beauty from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Ulta Beauty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 28th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $507.00 to $435.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $412.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Ulta Beauty from $426.00 to $424.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $420.71.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 4.6 %

NASDAQ:ULTA traded down $17.60 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $365.17. 1,440,970 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 842,438. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a twelve month low of $318.17 and a twelve month high of $574.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $380.06 and a 200 day moving average of $379.18.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $5.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $5.47 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.61 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 54.02%. The business's revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.02 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.