Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) Trading 0.9% Higher

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) shares traded up 0.9% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $258.45 and last traded at $257.44. 305,452 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 2,127,668 shares. The stock had previously closed at $255.20.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LULU has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Securities increased their price target on Lululemon Athletica from $375.00 to $382.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Lululemon Athletica from $470.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $300.00 to $270.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $350.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $329.00 to $326.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Sunday, September 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lululemon Athletica currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $354.94.

Lululemon Athletica Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $263.45 and its 200-day moving average is $327.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.65, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.25.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The apparel retailer reported $3.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.41 billion. Lululemon Athletica had a return on equity of 42.59% and a net margin of 16.34%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.68 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Lululemon Athletica Inc. will post 14.03 EPS for the current year.

Lululemon Athletica declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 5th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the apparel retailer to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Lululemon Athletica

In other Lululemon Athletica news, CEO Calvin Mcdonald acquired 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $260.00 per share, with a total value of $1,040,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 89,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,379,720. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lululemon Athletica

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LULU. Value Star Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd raised its holdings in Lululemon Athletica by 19,890.3% in the 2nd quarter. Value Star Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd now owns 4,653,746 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,390,074,000 after acquiring an additional 4,630,466 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,692,969 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,955,918,000 after acquiring an additional 2,369,119 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Lululemon Athletica in the fourth quarter valued at about $236,378,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Lululemon Athletica by 359.4% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 204,500 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $61,084,000 after purchasing an additional 283,344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 32.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,046,011 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $534,815,000 after purchasing an additional 257,944 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.20% of the company’s stock.

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.