Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Sold by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 31.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,944 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 16,282 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Ulta Beauty worth $13,484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Vima LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 490.0% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 59 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ULTA shares. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $550.00 to $505.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $552.00 to $448.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $525.00 to $485.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $395.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Ulta Beauty from $328.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $430.74.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $390.08, for a total transaction of $39,008.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,017 shares in the company, valued at $786,791.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $388.68, for a total value of $252,642.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,801 shares in the company, valued at $2,643,412.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.08, for a total value of $39,008.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $786,791.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of ULTA stock opened at $359.92 on Thursday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $318.17 and a fifty-two week high of $574.76. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $370.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $421.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.31.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.61 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 54.02% and a net margin of 10.68%. The firm’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.02 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Ulta Beauty

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.