Meridian Management Co. Sells 1,575 Shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. $ULTA

Meridian Management Co. lowered its position in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,272 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,575 shares during the quarter. Ulta Beauty comprises approximately 1.5% of Meridian Management Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Meridian Management Co.’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $5,616,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the second quarter worth approximately $258,791,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 76.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 477,504 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $222,794,000 after purchasing an additional 207,084 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the 2nd quarter valued at $62,170,000. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the 3rd quarter worth $71,997,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 137.3% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 212,952 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $116,432,000 after purchasing an additional 123,230 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ULTA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $732.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. B. Riley restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $626.44.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ULTA opened at $631.10 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $610.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $552.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.00 billion, a PE ratio of 24.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.85. Ulta Beauty Inc. has a 52-week low of $309.01 and a 52-week high of $695.34.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 4th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.61 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 46.33% and a net margin of 9.93%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.14 EPS. Ulta Beauty has set its FY 2025 guidance at 25.200-25.500 EPS. Equities analysts forecast 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.