Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) Trading Up 1.9%

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU)’s stock price shot up 1.9% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $274.40 and last traded at $273.62. 726,175 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 2,073,049 shares. The stock had previously closed at $268.55.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LULU. HSBC upgraded Lululemon Athletica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $405.00 to $425.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Lululemon Athletica from $404.00 to $329.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica in a report on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $457.00 to $338.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $350.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $384.39.

Lululemon Athletica Trading Up 1.2 %

The company has a market capitalization of $33.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.94, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $276.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $345.25.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 5th. The apparel retailer reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.20 billion. Lululemon Athletica had a return on equity of 42.64% and a net margin of 16.09%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.28 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Lululemon Athletica Inc. will post 14.22 EPS for the current year.

Lululemon Athletica declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 5th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the apparel retailer to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Lululemon Athletica

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its holdings in Lululemon Athletica by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 24,492 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $7,315,000 after buying an additional 1,918 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Lululemon Athletica by 285.9% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 355 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in Lululemon Athletica by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 908 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Lululemon Athletica by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 8,306 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,481,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 6,766 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,021,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. 85.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.