Virtu Financial LLC Makes New Investment in Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU)

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,108 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,077,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in LULU. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 51,219.6% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 688,196 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $351,868,000 after acquiring an additional 686,855 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Lululemon Athletica in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $236,378,000. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 29.2% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,934,683 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $746,034,000 after purchasing an additional 437,069 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in Lululemon Athletica by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,865,091 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $719,198,000 after buying an additional 310,347 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 32.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,046,011 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $534,815,000 after buying an additional 257,944 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Lululemon Athletica

In other news, Director Martha A. M. Morfitt purchased 700 shares of Lululemon Athletica stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $389.29 per share, for a total transaction of $272,503.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $194,645. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LULU shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $555.00 to $505.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. HSBC upgraded Lululemon Athletica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $405.00 to $425.00 in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Lululemon Athletica from $376.00 to $382.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Lululemon Athletica from $498.00 to $415.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $521.00 to $463.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $433.06.

Lululemon Athletica Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of LULU traded down $1.48 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $306.01. The company had a trading volume of 1,472,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,582,924. The business has a fifty day moving average of $334.65 and a 200-day moving average of $418.67. The firm has a market cap of $38.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.54, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.27. Lululemon Athletica Inc. has a 12 month low of $293.03 and a 12 month high of $516.39.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 5th. The apparel retailer reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. Lululemon Athletica had a net margin of 16.09% and a return on equity of 42.64%. Lululemon Athletica’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.28 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Lululemon Athletica Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lululemon Athletica declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, June 5th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the apparel retailer to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Lululemon Athletica Profile

Lululemon Athletica Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, distributes, and retails athletic apparel, footwear, and accessories under the lululemon brand for women and men. It offers pants, shorts, tops, and jackets for healthy lifestyle, such as yoga, running, training, and other activities. It also provides fitness-inspired accessories.