Van ECK Associates Corp Increases Stake in Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 35,102 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,473 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Lululemon Athletica were worth $17,947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LULU. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 6.1% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 31,553 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $12,167,000 after acquiring an additional 1,810 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in Lululemon Athletica by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 10,650 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,107,000 after purchasing an additional 669 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Lululemon Athletica by 21.8% in the third quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 894 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $345,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in Lululemon Athletica by 3.0% in the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 16,139 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $6,223,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the period. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management lifted its position in Lululemon Athletica by 7.0% during the third quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 3,029 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,168,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.20% of the company’s stock.

Lululemon Athletica Stock Down 1.7 %

NASDAQ:LULU opened at $354.40 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $44.66 billion, a PE ratio of 29.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s 50 day moving average is $405.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $438.38. Lululemon Athletica Inc. has a 52 week low of $326.93 and a 52 week high of $516.39.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The apparel retailer reported $5.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.00 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $3.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.19 billion. Lululemon Athletica had a return on equity of 44.41% and a net margin of 16.11%. The business’s revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.40 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lululemon Athletica Inc. will post 14.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Lululemon Athletica

In other Lululemon Athletica news, Director Martha A. M. Morfitt acquired 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $389.29 per share, with a total value of $272,503.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 500 shares in the company, valued at $194,645. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on LULU. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $430.00 to $384.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $445.00 price target (down from $540.00) on shares of Lululemon Athletica in a report on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Lululemon Athletica from $531.00 to $509.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Lululemon Athletica from $450.00 to $425.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on Lululemon Athletica from $553.00 to $515.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Lululemon Athletica presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $476.57.

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.