Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) Trading Up 0.5% on Insider Buying Activity

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU)’s stock price was up 0.5% on Friday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The company traded as high as $265.60 and last traded at $254.90. Approximately 671,616 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 2,133,204 shares. The stock had previously closed at $253.70.

Specifically, CEO Calvin Mcdonald acquired 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $260.00 per share, with a total value of $1,040,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 89,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,379,720. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LULU shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $329.00 to $326.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Sunday, September 1st. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $440.00 to $355.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $416.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $420.00 to $384.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Lululemon Athletica from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $463.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $354.94.

Lululemon Athletica Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $31.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.25. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $267.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $334.29.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The apparel retailer reported $3.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.41 billion. Lululemon Athletica had a net margin of 16.34% and a return on equity of 42.69%. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.68 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Lululemon Athletica Inc. will post 13.9 EPS for the current year.

Lululemon Athletica announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 5th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the apparel retailer to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Lululemon Athletica

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Lululemon Athletica in the second quarter valued at about $4,237,000. Brown Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in Lululemon Athletica in the second quarter valued at about $260,000. KPP Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Lululemon Athletica in the second quarter valued at about $517,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 8.5% in the second quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 24,492 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $7,315,000 after buying an additional 1,918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 285.9% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 355 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. 85.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lululemon Athletica Company 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.