lululemon athletica inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

lululemon athletica inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the thirty-three analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-eight have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $203.8032.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LULU. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of lululemon athletica in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of lululemon athletica from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price target on shares of lululemon athletica from $215.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of lululemon athletica from $203.00 to $161.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of lululemon athletica from $170.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 28th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Andre Maestrini purchased 3,275 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $151.02 per share, with a total value of $494,590.50. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 34,551 shares in the company, valued at $5,217,892.02. The trade was a 10.47% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Charles V. Bergh bought 6,090 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $164.20 per share, for a total transaction of $999,978.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $999,978. This represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of lululemon athletica

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in lululemon athletica by 3.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,782,917 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,452,394,000 after buying an additional 521,915 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in lululemon athletica by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,049,911 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $631,526,000 after purchasing an additional 71,464 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in lululemon athletica by 28.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,200,552 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $391,544,000 after purchasing an additional 490,127 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of lululemon athletica by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,197,158 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $456,592,000 after acquiring an additional 59,282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch SE lifted its holdings in shares of lululemon athletica by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 1,930,831 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $343,553,000 after purchasing an additional 290,614 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.20% of the company’s stock.

lululemon athletica Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of LULU opened at $119.14 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $14.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $152.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.54. lululemon athletica has a 12 month low of $119.06 and a 12 month high of $340.25.

lululemon athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 17th. The apparel retailer reported $5.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.78 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.59 billion. lululemon athletica had a net margin of 14.22% and a return on equity of 34.82%. The company’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that lululemon athletica will post 12.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

lululemon athletica Company Profile

lululemon athletica inc. is a design-focused athletic apparel company known for performance-oriented apparel, footwear and accessories. The company’s product portfolio centers on technical apparel for yoga, running, training and everyday active lifestyle use and includes tops, bottoms, outerwear, underwear, bags and a growing footwear assortment. lululemon emphasizes fabric science and product innovation, marketing garments that blend performance features with lifestyle styling.

Products are developed in-house and produced through a network of third-party manufacturers.