Sanders Capital LLC Has $690.99 Million Stock Holdings in Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Sanders Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,263,820 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 103,540 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $690,994,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,353,414 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,926,979,000 after purchasing an additional 33,674 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 33.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 840,383 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $459,479,000 after buying an additional 211,485 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 654,598 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $306,234,000 after buying an additional 56,063 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 626,093 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $342,316,000 after buying an additional 43,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 36,456 shares in the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on ULTA. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $750.00 to $700.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $810.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday. Finally, Evercore boosted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $671.27.

Key Headlines Impacting Ulta Beauty

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 top-line beat — net sales rose ~11.8% to about $3.9B, driven by comps and new stores, showing resilient demand. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Digital momentum and new channels: Ulta cites AI-driven personalization boosting e?commerce and is launching a curated assortment on TikTok Shop to reach younger customers. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: FY2026 outlook shows growth but slower cadence — management guided to mid-single-digit sales growth (roughly 6–7%) and provided an EPS range; the plan signals continued growth but a deceleration from FY25. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts largely keep positive ratings but are trimming price targets after the print — many firms reaffirm buy/overweight while lowering targets to reflect the more cautious margin/advertising outlook. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Margin pressure from rising costs and higher SG&A — operating margin compressed as advertising, incentive compensation and strategic investments increased, squeezing EPS versus last year. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Market disappointed by the forward profit signal — investors viewed the FY26 profit/same-store-sales targets and incremental spending as conservative or risk-increasing, triggering heavy selling and analyst target resets. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: High-volume selloff and volatile sentiment — the post-earnings move has driven large intraday volume and rapid target revisions, increasing short-term downside risk despite longer-term bullish arguments. Read More.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA opened at $535.72 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $665.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $586.85. The stock has a market cap of $23.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.82. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 52-week low of $323.36 and a 52-week high of $714.97.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 12th. The specialty retailer reported $8.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.93 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $3.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.81 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 9.31% and a return on equity of 44.44%. Ulta Beauty’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter 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. Analysts predict that Ulta Beauty Inc. will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty Profile

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.