Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) Director Acquires $272,503.00 in Stock

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) Director Martha A. M. Morfitt bought 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $389.29 per share, with a total value of $272,503.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $194,645. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Lululemon Athletica Price Performance

NASDAQ:LULU traded up $1.19 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $390.65. 1,690,240 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,670,622. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $458.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $441.95. Lululemon Athletica Inc. has a 52-week low of $326.93 and a 52-week high of $516.39. The firm has a market cap of $49.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.99, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.33.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The apparel retailer reported $5.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.00 by $0.29. Lululemon Athletica had a net margin of 16.11% and a return on equity of 44.41%. The business had revenue of $3.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.40 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Lululemon Athletica Inc. will post 14.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lululemon Athletica declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 7th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the apparel retailer to reacquire up to 1.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LULU. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $450.00 to $425.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 8th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $520.00 to $555.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $539.00 price target (down from $596.00) on shares of Lululemon Athletica in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $570.00 to $515.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lululemon Athletica currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $493.66.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lululemon Athletica

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LULU. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,692,969 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,955,918,000 after buying an additional 2,369,119 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 1,462.6% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,093,563 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $413,914,000 after buying an additional 1,023,578 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 51,219.6% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 688,196 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $351,868,000 after buying an additional 686,855 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Lululemon Athletica during the 4th quarter worth $236,378,000. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 953,929.8% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 448,394 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $169,717,000 after buying an additional 448,347 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.20% of the company’s stock.

About Lululemon Athletica

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 operates in two segments, Company-Operated Stores and Direct to Consumer. The company offers pants, shorts, tops, and jackets for healthy lifestyle, such as yoga, running, training, and other activities.