Axa S.A. Reduces Stock Position in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

AXA S.A. trimmed its holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 24.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,447 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 1,119 shares during the period. AXA S.A.'s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $1,499,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 121.4% in the 4th quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new position in Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 60.0% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 144 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.39% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Monday, March 10th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $467.00 to $404.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $460.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Argus cut Ulta Beauty from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $405.00 to $365.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $427.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In other news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total transaction of $332,982.32. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

NASDAQ:ULTA traded up $20.21 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $412.38. 1,188,649 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,053,858. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $364.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $384.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.50, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.06. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 12-month low of $309.01 and a 12-month high of $460.00.

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