Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt Sells 130,400 Shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Key Points

• Alecta Tjänstepension Omsesidigt sold 130,400 shares, cutting its Ulta stake by 28.9% to 320,105 shares (about 0.72% of the company), valued at roughly $193.7 million at quarter-end.
• Other institutions aggressively increased positions (e.g., Holocene, Andra AP, Invesco, Caisse, AQR), leaving 90.39% of Ulta stock held by institutional investors, signaling heavy institutional ownership and interest.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive with a consensus “Moderate Buy” and an average target of $674.23; near-term catalysts include a Bank of America upgrade and Ulta’s Gemini‑powered “Ulta AI,” while competitive pressure from Walmart poses a downside risk.

Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt reduced its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 28.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 320,105 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 130,400 shares during the period. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt owned 0.72% of Ulta Beauty worth $193,667,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ULTA. Holocene Advisors LP raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 339.6% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 379,939 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $207,732,000 after purchasing an additional 293,516 shares during the last quarter. Andra AP fonden grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 351,900.0% during the 3rd quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 228,800 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $125,096,000 after acquiring an additional 228,735 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 33.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 840,383 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $459,479,000 after acquiring an additional 211,485 shares during the period. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 249.8% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 295,833 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $161,747,000 after acquiring an additional 211,266 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $222,794,000 after acquiring an additional 207,084 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Ulta Beauty

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America upgraded ULTA to a "Buy" from "Neutral," highlighting that the recent pullback creates an attractive entry into what it calls a high-quality compounder and keeping a $685 price target that implies meaningful upside. That upgrade has been cited as the primary near-term catalyst for the stock lift. Ulta Beauty shares gain on Bank of America upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Ulta’s push into AI-enabled commerce (Gemini-powered "Ulta AI") plus a data-sharing tie-up with NielsenIQ could sharpen personalization, product discovery and omnichannel merchandising — tangible drivers of higher conversion and margin over time if execution scales. Will Ulta’s (ULTA) Gemini-Powered “Ulta AI” and NielsenIQ Tie-Up Change Its Digital Narrative?
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry commentary from retail leaders emphasizes disciplined transformation and deeper consumer connection as keys to stability — supportive for incumbents like Ulta that invest in brand purpose and omnichannel, but not an immediate stock mover. Retail stability hinges on disciplined transformation, deeper consumer connection
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader tech and creator-ecommerce advances (e.g., predictive creator matching) signal industry tailwinds for digital marketing effectiveness, which could indirectly benefit Ulta’s digital channels but are not Ulta-specific. Creatable launches the first Predictive AI to help book creators for ecommerce
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive pressure: Walmart is making a notable push into beauty to better rival Target and specialty retailers, which could weigh on share and pricing dynamics in mass channels over the medium term. Investors will watch how Ulta defends market share and pricing power. Walmart makes big move into beauty to rival Target

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 0.5%

Ulta Beauty stock opened at $535.10 on Thursday. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 52 week low of $386.00 and a 52 week high of $714.97. The company's 50 day moving average price is $568.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $587.70. The stock has a market cap of $23.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.89.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The specialty retailer reported $8.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $7.93 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $3.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.81 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 9.31% and a return on equity of 43.56%. Ulta Beauty's revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $8.46 EPS. Ulta Beauty has set its FY 2026 guidance at 28.050-28.550 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 28.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In related news, Director George R. Mrkonic, Jr. sold 452 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $539.29, for a total value of $243,759.08. Following the sale, the director owned 2,383 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,285,128.07. The trade was a 15.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ULTA. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $810.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, March 13th. Barclays downgraded Ulta Beauty from an "overweight" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ulta Beauty from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $635.00 to $700.00 in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Evercore set a $725.00 price target on Ulta Beauty in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $674.23.

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.

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