Van ECK Associates Corp Has $16.66 Million Holdings in Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 43,569 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 2,073 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Lululemon Athletica were worth $16,661,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Lululemon Athletica by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,018 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $389,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in Lululemon Athletica by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 178 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. raised its holdings in Lululemon Athletica by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 651 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $249,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 4.6% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 950 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Pacific Financial boosted its stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 3,096 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,184,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Securities boosted their target price on Lululemon Athletica from $382.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $378.00 to $411.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price 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. TD Cowen raised their price target on Lululemon Athletica from $382.00 to $383.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price objective on Lululemon Athletica from $430.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lululemon Athletica currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $399.14.

Insider Transactions at Lululemon Athletica

In other news, insider Nicole Neuburger sold 2,022 shares of Lululemon Athletica stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $387.11, for a total value of $782,736.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,399,307.78. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Celeste Burgoyne sold 24,870 shares of Lululemon Athletica stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $405.54, for a total value of $10,085,779.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,040,456.66. The trade was a 66.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lululemon Athletica Price Performance

NASDAQ LULU opened at $366.68 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $391.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $320.44. Lululemon Athletica Inc. has a one year low of $226.01 and a one year high of $480.94. The firm has a market cap of $44.65 billion, a PE ratio of 26.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.19.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The apparel retailer reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.69 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. Lululemon Athletica had a return on equity of 42.16% and a net margin of 17.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lululemon Athletica Inc. will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current 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.