Sit Investment Associates Inc. Sells 525 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Sit Investment Associates Inc. lessened its holdings in Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 20,347 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 525 shares during the period. Sit Investment Associates Inc.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $8,850,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 121.4% in the fourth quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 62 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 118.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 151.5% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Edge Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In related news, insider Jodi J. Caro sold 902 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $369.16, for a total transaction of $332,982.32. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,817,429.12. This represents a 10.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on ULTA shares. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $510.00 to $415.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $405.00 to $365.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $400.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $427.61.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA opened at $359.36 on Friday. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 12-month low of $309.01 and a 12-month high of $460.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $369.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $385.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.16.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $8.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.13 by $1.33. The company had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.47 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 51.95% and a net margin of 10.58%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 23.96 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.