Aberdeen Group plc Acquires 6,551 Shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 18.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,005 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,551 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned approximately 0.09% of Ulta Beauty worth $22,966,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ULTA. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 107.7% in the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 54 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ulta Beauty during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s stock.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 3.4%

ULTA stock opened at $706.82 on Wednesday. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a twelve month low of $309.01 and a twelve month high of $707.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.35 billion, a PE ratio of 27.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $644.40 and its 200-day moving average is $569.54.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ULTA has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $700.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $605.00 to $790.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group boosted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $690.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Bank of America raised their target price on Ulta Beauty from $610.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Ulta Beauty from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $626.44.

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.