Swedbank AB Sells 24,235 Shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Key Points

• Swedbank AB sold 24,235 shares of Ulta Beauty in Q4 (a 4.2% reduction), leaving it with 557,271 shares (about 1.26% of the company) valued at roughly $337.16 million.
• Bank of America upgraded ULTA to Buy with a $685 target and follow‑up coverage highlighted a ~26% pullback from highs; MarketBeat shows a consensus "Moderate Buy" with a $674.23 price target.
• Ulta beat quarterly expectations (EPS $8.01 vs. $7.93, revenue $3.90B vs. $3.81B), set FY2026 guidance of $28.05–$28.55 EPS, and its stock currently trades well below its 12‑month high ($714.97) after the pullback.

Swedbank AB cut its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 557,271 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 24,235 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned about 1.26% of Ulta Beauty worth $337,155,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ULTA. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,376,848 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $3,253,047,000 after purchasing an additional 23,434 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,975,260 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,079,973,000 after purchasing an additional 44,182 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 8.9% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 1,263,820 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $690,994,000 after buying an additional 103,540 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake 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 valued at $459,479,000 after buying an additional 211,485 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 7.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 626,093 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $342,316,000 after acquiring an additional 43,458 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Ulta Beauty News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America upgraded ULTA to Buy from Neutral with a $685 price target, arguing the recent share‑price pullback and conservative guidance create an attractive entry into a high‑quality compounder. Ulta Beauty shares gain on Bank of America upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Follow‑on coverage (247wallst, CNBC, Yahoo Finance) echoed BofA’s case — emphasizing the 26% pullback from highs, the upside to BofA’s $685 target, and that lower near‑term expectations improve the risk/reward for long‑term investors. BofA Just Deemed Ulta Beauty a High-Quality Compounder
• Neutral Sentiment: Ulta’s digital initiatives — notably the Gemini‑powered “Ulta AI” experience and a data tie‑up with NielsenIQ — were highlighted as longer‑term growth and personalization drivers; these are strategically positive but likely won’t change near‑term comps. Will Ulta’s (ULTA) Gemini-Powered “Ulta AI” and NielsenIQ Tie-Up Change Its Digital Narrative?
• Neutral Sentiment: Brand and marketing mentions (partnerships like DoorDash promotions and celebrity visibility) support customer engagement but are incremental to fundamentals. DoorDash delivers memes, reality TV moms for Mother’s Day campaign

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

ULTA opened at $532.53 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $23.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.78, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.89. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $570.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $587.72. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a twelve month low of $386.00 and a twelve month high of $714.97.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The specialty retailer reported $8.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.93 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $3.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.81 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 9.31% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $8.46 EPS. Ulta Beauty has set its FY 2026 guidance at 28.050-28.550 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 28.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ULTA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $732.00 price objective on Ulta Beauty in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $750.00 to $700.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 13th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $640.00 to $715.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Ulta Beauty from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $674.23.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In related news, Director George R. Mrkonic, Jr. sold 452 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $539.29, for a total transaction of $243,759.08. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,383 shares in the company, valued at $1,285,128.07. This represents a 15.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Ulta Beauty

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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