Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Sees Large Volume Increase – Here’s Why

Shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) saw strong trading volume on Monday . 414,865 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 29% from the previous session’s volume of 585,005 shares.The stock last traded at $539.15 and had previously closed at $535.72.

Key Headlines Impacting Ulta Beauty

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

• Positive Sentiment: Solid top‑line performance and long‑term growth thesis — Q4 revenue and comp trends were strong and management emphasized strategic initiatives (Ulta Beauty Unleashed, digital investment and international expansion) that support a longer‑term recovery and investor thesis. MarketBeat: Ulta Beauty and an Ultimate Entry
• Positive Sentiment: Value/accumulation narrative — screens like Zacks’ style scores highlight ULTA as a long‑term value candidate, and some commentary notes heavy institutional ownership that may limit downside and support any recovery. Zacks: Why Ulta Beauty is a Top Value Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst stance mixed but not uniformly negative — Piper Sandler reiterated an Overweight rating even as other firms revised views; promotional activity (e.g., 21 Days of Beauty) and CEO media coverage are operational/brand developments that don’t immediately change the earnings picture. AmericanBankingNews: Piper Sandler Reiterates Overweight
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst price‑target cuts and downgrades — several firms trimmed targets (examples: JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Oppenheimer, TD Cowen) after the report, increasing near‑term selling pressure and reducing the stock’s near‑term upside expectations. AmericanBankingNews: Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Guidance‑led selloff — coverage and market writeups report a 10%+ post‑earnings drop driven mainly by conservative FY guidance (lower comp‑growth assumptions and margin caution), which rattled traders despite the quarter’s topline strength. Blockonomi: ULTA Stock Plunges 10% Post‑Earnings

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ULTA shares. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $674.00 to $799.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $810.00 price target on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday. Evercore boosted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $775.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Ulta Beauty in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $700.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $671.27.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $665.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $587.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.82.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The specialty retailer reported $8.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.93 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $3.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.81 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 9.31%.Ulta Beauty’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.46 earnings per share. Ulta Beauty has set its FY 2026 guidance at 28.050-28.550 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ulta Beauty

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.4% in the fourth 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 boosted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,025,565 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,225,487,000 after buying an additional 50,305 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC grew its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 1,263,820 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $690,994,000 after buying an additional 103,540 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,240,210 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $747,587,000 after buying an additional 21,947 shares during the period. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 974,223 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $589,415,000 after buying an additional 2,463 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.