Needham & Company LLC Begins Coverage on Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU)

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

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on LULU. TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $375.00 to $382.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Lululemon Athletica from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Lululemon Athletica from $385.00 to $315.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on 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, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Lululemon Athletica from $300.00 to $270.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $357.13.

Lululemon Athletica Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of LULU stock opened at $326.72 on Friday. Lululemon Athletica has a 12-month low of $226.01 and a 12-month high of $516.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $293.06 and a 200-day moving average of $287.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Calvin Mcdonald acquired 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $260.00 per share, for a total transaction of $1,040,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 89,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,379,720. This represents a 4.66 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicole Neuburger sold 486 shares of Lululemon Athletica stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.59, for a total transaction of $131,020.74. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lululemon Athletica

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LULU. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in Lululemon Athletica during the first quarter worth about $187,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 81.7% in the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,274 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $497,000 after purchasing an additional 573 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 6.9% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,433 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $560,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Lululemon Athletica by 362.4% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 121,143 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $47,325,000 after purchasing an additional 94,943 shares during the period. Finally, BOKF NA increased its position in Lululemon Athletica by 60.3% in the first quarter. BOKF NA now owns 10,931 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,211,000 after buying an additional 4,114 shares during the last quarter. 85.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.