Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) Research Coverage Started at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on shares of Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued a hold rating on the apparel retailer’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on LULU. Citigroup cut their price target on Lululemon Athletica from $300.00 to $270.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $440.00 to $355.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $420.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $457.00 to $338.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $326.00 to $314.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $357.13.

Lululemon Athletica Price Performance

Lululemon Athletica stock opened at $317.11 on Friday. Lululemon Athletica has a 12-month low of $226.01 and a 12-month high of $516.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $291.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $288.04. The company has a market capitalization of $38.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.24.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The apparel retailer reported $3.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.22. Lululemon Athletica had a net margin of 16.34% and a return on equity of 42.59%. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Lululemon Athletica will post 14.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Calvin Mcdonald bought 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $260.00 per share, for a total transaction of $1,040,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 89,922 shares in the company, valued at $23,379,720. This represents a 4.66 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicole Neuburger sold 486 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.59, for a total transaction of $131,020.74. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,198 shares in the company, valued at $1,670,918.82. This represents a 7.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Lululemon Athletica during the 3rd quarter worth about $953,000. XTX Topco Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 281.4% during the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 8,894 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,657,000 after purchasing an additional 6,562 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in Lululemon Athletica by 31.8% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 15,425 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,607,000 after purchasing an additional 3,721 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 34,709 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $10,368,000 after buying an additional 3,077 shares during the period. Finally, Rheos Capital Works Inc. lifted its position in Lululemon Athletica by 19.2% in the 3rd quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 15,500 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,206,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. 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 offers pants, shorts, tops, and jackets for healthy lifestyle, such as yoga, running, training, and other activities. It also provides fitness-inspired accessories.