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

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 3.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,747 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 957 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.07% of Ulta Beauty worth $17,904,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 6.7% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 581,506 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $317,938,000 after purchasing an additional 36,456 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,889 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $73,204,000 after acquiring an additional 2,121 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $71,997,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 90.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 36,647 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $20,037,000 after acquiring an additional 17,365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stance Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty during the 2nd quarter worth $3,809,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ULTA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $690.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Argus lifted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $732.00 price objective on Ulta Beauty in a report on Thursday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $626.44.

Ulta Beauty Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of ULTA opened at $683.05 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $636.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $564.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.85. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 1-year low of $309.01 and a 1-year high of $700.81.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.61 by $0.53. The company had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 9.93% and a return on equity of 46.33%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.14 earnings per share. Ulta Beauty has set its FY 2025 guidance at 25.200-25.500 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current year.

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.