Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) Stock Price

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) had its price objective increased by Barclays from $378.00 to $411.00 in a research report report published on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the apparel retailer’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on LULU. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $260.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $380.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Lululemon Athletica from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $360.00 to $460.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lululemon Athletica presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $390.33.

Lululemon Athletica Stock Performance

NASDAQ LULU opened at $370.99 on Thursday. Lululemon Athletica has a 52-week low of $226.01 and a 52-week high of $491.30. The company has a fifty day moving average of $360.19 and a 200-day moving average of $303.57. The company has a market capitalization of $45.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.18.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The apparel retailer reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.69 by $0.18. Lululemon Athletica had a return on equity of 42.16% and a net margin of 17.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.53 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Lululemon Athletica will post 14.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 74,856.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 895,726 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $243,055,000 after acquiring an additional 894,531 shares in the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new stake in Lululemon Athletica during the 3rd quarter valued at about $93,476,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 136.3% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 529,295 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $143,624,000 after purchasing an additional 305,302 shares in the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP purchased a new position in Lululemon Athletica in the third quarter worth about $81,405,000. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lululemon Athletica in the third quarter worth approximately $79,503,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.20% of the company’s stock.

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.