Morgan Stanley Lowers Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Price Target to $700.00

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) had its target price cut by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $750.00 to $700.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 30.67% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on ULTA. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $610.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $775.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Tuesday. Evercore boosted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $674.00 to $799.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $671.27.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of Ulta Beauty stock opened at $535.72 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $23.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $665.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $587.27. Ulta Beauty has a 1 year low of $323.36 and a 1 year high of $714.97.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The specialty retailer reported $8.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.93 by $0.08. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 9.31% and a return on equity of 44.44%. The business had revenue of $3.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $8.46 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Ulta Beauty has set its FY 2026 guidance at 28.050-28.550 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Ulta Beauty will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB increased its position in Ulta Beauty by 6.7% during the 3rd 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. Keybank National Association OH boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 1.6% in the third quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,889 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $73,204,000 after acquiring an additional 2,121 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the third quarter worth about $71,997,000. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty during the third quarter worth about $6,012,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 90.1% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 36,647 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $20,037,000 after acquiring an additional 17,365 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ulta Beauty News Roundup

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.

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.