Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Increases Position in Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 13.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,274 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,527 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.08% of Ulta Beauty worth $22,551,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,376,848 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,253,047,000 after buying an additional 23,434 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Ulta Beauty by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,975,260 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,079,973,000 after acquiring an additional 44,182 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $690,994,000 after acquiring an additional 103,540 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,240,210 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $747,587,000 after acquiring an additional 21,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 33.6% during the third 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA opened at $470.75 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $518.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $583.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.86. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 52 week low of $452.00 and a 52 week high of $714.97.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The specialty retailer reported $7.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.89 by $0.85. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.12 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 44.77%. Ulta Beauty’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.70 earnings per share. Ulta Beauty has set its FY 2026 guidance at 28.360-28.800 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 28.72 EPS for the current year.

More Ulta Beauty News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Ulta Beauty continues to benefit from brand and category momentum, including fragrance and prestige products, which were highlighted as strong drivers in recent Q1 results and follow-up analysis. That supports the view that core demand remains healthy. 5 Insightful Analyst Questions From Ulta’s Q1 Earnings Call
• Positive Sentiment: Khloé Kardashian launched XO Blue fragrance at Ulta, adding a celebrity-backed exclusivity play that may help traffic, sales, and Ulta’s image as a destination for new beauty launches. Khloé Kardashian Launches XO Blue Fragrance at Ulta With a Summer Beach Scent
• Positive Sentiment: Ulta shareholders approved governance and incentive changes, which can be viewed as a sign of corporate alignment and cleaner execution going forward. Ulta Beauty Shareholders Approve Governance and Incentive Changes
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and comparison pieces like “WOOF vs. ULTA” and the Zacks feature are mostly valuation-focused and do not add a clear near-term catalyst, but they keep Ulta in the spotlight for investors weighing quality versus value. WOOF vs. ULTA: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?
• Negative Sentiment: Investor sentiment remains mixed because some commentary argues Ulta’s growth may be slowing and that margin improvements may be hard to sustain, which helps explain why the stock has been drifting lower despite solid earnings. Is Ulta Beauty Losing Its Glamour? Why Investors Are Dumping ULTA Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Another recent opinion piece said Ulta’s latest quarter looked “ugly,” with investors worried that guidance points to slower EPS growth and that some margin gains may not last, adding to pressure on the shares. Ulta Beauty Earnings Were Ugly. We’re Pulling Our Recommendation.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ULTA. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $750.00 to $650.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $450.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $725.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Bank of America upgraded Ulta Beauty from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $685.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Loop Capital reissued a “hold” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One investment 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $644.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ulta Beauty

In other news, Director George R. Mrkonic, Jr. sold 452 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $539.29, for a total value of $243,759.08. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.