Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA Stake Lessened by Strs Ohio

Strs Ohio lessened its holdings in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,580 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 2,999 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $28,748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty during the second quarter valued at $258,791,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ulta Beauty by 76.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 477,504 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $222,794,000 after acquiring an additional 207,084 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 2nd quarter valued at about $62,170,000. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 3rd quarter valued at about $71,997,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 137.3% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 212,952 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $116,432,000 after purchasing an additional 123,230 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Ulta Beauty

Here are the key news stories impacting Ulta Beauty this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Expansion into the Middle East: Ulta announced its first UAE store at Mall of the Emirates (opening Jan. 29) in partnership with franchise operator Alshaya, building on a November Kuwait debut — a move that diversifies revenue and uses a partner-led model to limit capex. Read More. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism: TD Cowen raised Ulta’s price target to $775, signaling bullish analyst sentiment that can support the stock as investors re-rate long-term growth expectations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: New retail concepts: Ulta is expanding wellness-focused shop?in?shop boutiques, aligning with consumer wellness trends and opening new margin and traffic drivers within stores. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Strong consumer demand: Tickets for Ulta Beauty World sold out in minutes, showing high brand engagement and the power of experiential marketing to drive loyalty and future spend. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Upcoming earnings: Ulta is about to report Q4 results; previews note expectations of weaker EPS, so the report (and company guidance) will be the immediate catalyst to confirm whether growth and margin momentum continue. Monitor the release for actual versus expected numbers. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: PR/backlash risk from event execution: While demand was strong, rapid sell-outs and ticketing issues have led to customer disappointment and negative headlines — a short-term reputational risk that could draw management time and attention and may pressure sentiment if unresolved. Read More. Read More.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA opened at $686.12 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $598.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $547.94. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 52 week low of $309.01 and a 52 week high of $695.34. The firm has a market cap of $30.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.85.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.61 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 46.33% and a net margin of 9.93%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.14 EPS. Ulta Beauty has set its FY 2025 guidance at 25.200-25.500 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ULTA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Ulta Beauty from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $605.00 to $790.00 in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $600.00 to $606.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $653.00 to $674.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $610.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $620.04.

Ulta Beauty Company Profile

Ulta Beauty, Inc (NASDAQ: ULTA) is a U.S.-based specialty retailer and beauty services provider focused on cosmetics, fragrance, skin care, hair care, bath and body, and beauty tools. The company operates a dual-format business that combines brick-and-mortar retail stores with an e-commerce platform, offering a broad assortment of national, prestige and mass-market brands alongside its own private-label products. In many locations Ulta also provides full-service salon treatments, positioning the company as a one-stop destination for product discovery and in-store services.

The retailer’s product mix spans color cosmetics, haircare and styling products, skin and body care, fragrance, and accessories, catering to a wide range of consumer preferences and price points.