Gradient Investments LLC Reduces Position in Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Key Points

• Gradient Investments reduced its Ulta Beauty stake by 22.8% in the third quarter, selling 1,812 shares and retaining 6,123 shares valued at approximately $3.34 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with 24 Buy ratings and eight Hold ratings producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $627.83 average price target. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the stock.
• Ulta Beauty exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $6.55 earnings per share and $3.04 billion in revenue, up 8.9% year over year. However, company insiders—including the CEO and a director—recently sold shares.

Gradient Investments LLC lowered its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 22.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,123 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 1,812 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC's holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $3,344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 860.0% during the first quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC now owns 48 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Ascentis Independent Advisors bought a new position in Ulta Beauty during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Clearstead Trust LLC bought a new position in Ulta Beauty during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 46.7% during the 3rd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $692.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Ulta Beauty from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. Citigroup downgraded Ulta Beauty from a "neutral" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Ulta Beauty to an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. Twenty-four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $627.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In other news, Director Lorna Nagler sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $537.31, for a total transaction of $322,386.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,168 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,851,438.08. This represents a 7.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kecia Steelman sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.88, for a total value of $1,091,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 40,489 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,102,135.32. The trade was a 4.71% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of ULTA stock opened at $564.21 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $24.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.84. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 52 week low of $443.60 and a 52 week high of $714.97. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $540.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $514.25.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $6.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.22 by $0.33. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 9.34% and a return on equity of 45.40%. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.78 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Ulta Beauty has set its FY 2026 guidance at 28.700-29.000 EPS. Analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 28.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Ulta Beauty Profile

Ulta Beauty, Inc is a specialty beauty retailer that operates stores and an e-commerce platform in the United States. The company offers a broad assortment of prestige and mass-market beauty products, including cosmetics, skincare, haircare products, fragrances, bath and body items, and beauty tools.

In addition to merchandise, Ulta Beauty provides salon services such as hair styling, hair treatments, and related services at many of its locations. Its stores typically combine product retailing with salon operations and may also offer beauty services provided by licensed professionals.

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