First Trust Advisors LP Lowers Stock Holdings in Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its position in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 36.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,528 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 11,733 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP's holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $10,730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Diamant Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 52,171.0% in the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,474,042 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $77,050,000 after purchasing an additional 1,471,222 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty during the 4th quarter valued at $430,963,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1,837.4% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 230,998 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $139,756,000 after purchasing an additional 219,075 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 33.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 840,383 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $459,479,000 after purchasing an additional 211,485 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 249.8% in the third quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 295,833 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $161,747,000 after buying an additional 211,266 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on ULTA. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $650.00 to $585.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ulta Beauty from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $635.00 to $700.00 in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on Ulta Beauty from $799.00 to $731.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. UBS Group dropped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $810.00 to $735.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Wedbush began coverage on Ulta Beauty in a report on Monday, April 20th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $638.09.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $512.83 on Friday. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 52-week low of $443.60 and a 52-week high of $714.97. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $477.49 and a 200 day moving average of $553.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.05 billion, a PE ratio of 19.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.88.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The specialty retailer reported $7.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.89 by $0.85. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.12 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 44.77% and a net margin of 9.36%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.70 earnings per share. Ulta Beauty has set its FY 2026 guidance at 28.360-28.800 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 28.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ulta Beauty

In other Ulta Beauty news, Director George R. Mrkonic, Jr. sold 383 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.84, for a total value of $182,246.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,143,919.36. This represents a 13.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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