Natixis Has $4.94 Million Holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Natixis raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 222.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,361 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 7,840 shares during the quarter. Natixis' holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $4,941,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 121.4% in the 4th quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 151.5% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Edge Capital Group LLC bought a new position in Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on ULTA shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $400.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $360.00 to $310.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $384.00 to $423.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $415.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Ulta Beauty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $427.61.

Ulta Beauty Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of ULTA traded up $8.19 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $385.93. The stock had a trading volume of 538,541 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,054,391. The firm has a market cap of $17.49 billion, a PE ratio of 15.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $357.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $382.22. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a one year low of $309.01 and a one year high of $460.00.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $7.13 by $1.33. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 51.95% and a net margin of 10.58%. The firm had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $8.08 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total transaction of $332,982.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,632 shares in the company, valued at $2,817,429.12. This trade represents a 10.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.39% 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.