Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-nine ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and twenty-two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $483.61.

LULU has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $495.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. HSBC cut their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $500.00 to $405.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $450.00 to $425.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $408.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $553.00 to $515.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Martha A. M. Morfitt acquired 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $389.29 per share, with a total value of $272,503.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 500 shares in the company, valued at $194,645. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LULU. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 600.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 49 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Tidemark LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lululemon Athletica in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lululemon Athletica in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lululemon Athletica in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 270.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 74 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. 85.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lululemon Athletica Stock Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ:LULU opened at $360.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $45.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.30. Lululemon Athletica has a fifty-two week low of $326.93 and a fifty-two week high of $516.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $412.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $438.30.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The apparel retailer reported $5.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.00 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $3.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.19 billion. Lululemon Athletica had a net margin of 16.11% and a return on equity of 44.41%. Lululemon Athletica’s revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.40 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Lululemon Athletica will post 14.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.