Amundi Increases Stake in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 19.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 450,239 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 74,013 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned approximately 0.97% of Ulta Beauty worth $186,912,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 118.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 151.5% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $355.43 on Monday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $318.17 and a fifty-two week high of $574.76. The firm has a market cap of $16.48 billion, a PE ratio of 14.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $394.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $388.12.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.45 by $0.69. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 51.95%. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.07 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ULTA. DA Davidson upped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $435.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. William Blair cut Ulta Beauty from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $470.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $459.22.

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.