We compute the four-loop beta functions of short and long-range multi scalar models with general sextic interactions and complex fields. We then specialize the beta functions to a $U(N)^3$ symmetry and study the renormalization group at next-to-leading order in $N$ and small $epsilon$. In the short-range case, $epsilon$ is the deviation from the critical dimension while it is the deviation from the critical scaling of the free propagator in the long-range case. This allows us to find the $1/N$ corrections to the rank-3 sextic tensor model of arXiv:1912.06641. In the short-range case, we still find a non-trivial real IR stable fixed point, with a diagonalizable stability matrix. All couplings, except for the so-called wheel coupling, have terms of order $epsilon^0$ at leading and next-to-leading order, which makes this fixed point different from the other melonic fixed points found in quartic models. In the long-range case, the corrections to the fixed point are instead not perturbative in $epsilon$ and hence unreliable; we thus find no precursor of the large-$N$ fixed point.