Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) shares gapped down prior to trading on Friday after Oppenheimer lowered their price target on the stock from $750.00 to $650.00. The stock had previously closed at $624.70, but opened at $566.28. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Ulta Beauty shares last traded at $561.3270, with a volume of 660,252 shares trading hands.

ULTA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $680.00 to $712.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $725.00 target price (down from $775.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Ulta Beauty from $800.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. One 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $671.27.

Trending Headlines about 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ULTA. Swedbank AB grew its stake in Ulta Beauty by 6.7% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 581,506 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $317,938,000 after acquiring an additional 36,456 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH increased its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 1.6% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $71,997,000. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,012,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 90.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 17,365 shares during the period. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 14.2%

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $665.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $586.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.82.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 9.31% and a return on equity of 44.44%. The firm had revenue of $3.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $8.46 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Ulta Beauty has set its FY 2026 guidance at 28.050-28.550 EPS. Equities 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.