Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) gapped down before the market opened on Friday after BTIG Research lowered their price target on the stock from $470.00 to $420.00. The stock had previously closed at $341.53, but opened at $301.05. BTIG Research currently has a buy rating on the stock. Lululemon Athletica shares last traded at $287.81, with a volume of 4,253,418 shares traded.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on LULU. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Lululemon Athletica from $475.00 to $430.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Lululemon Athletica from $313.00 to $302.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $340.00 to $315.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price target on Lululemon Athletica from $445.00 to $385.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $380.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $380.72.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lululemon Athletica

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of LULU. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 95.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,848,613 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,854,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,371,079 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Lululemon Athletica by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,397,588 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,681,682,000 after purchasing an additional 571,657 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,485,289 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $947,682,000 after acquiring an additional 10,461 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 34.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,163,484 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $827,338,000 after purchasing an additional 556,406 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,781,237 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $681,163,000 after buying an additional 421,890 shares during the period. 85.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lululemon Athletica Trading Down 14.2 %

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $364.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $338.98. The firm has a market cap of $35.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.21.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 27th. The apparel retailer reported $6.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.85 by $0.29. Lululemon Athletica had a return on equity of 42.16% and a net margin of 17.05%. The business had revenue of $3.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.29 EPS. Lululemon Athletica’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Lululemon Athletica Inc. will post 14.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.