Commerce Bank Grows Position in Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU)

Commerce Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) by 11.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,765 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,674 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Lululemon Athletica were worth $6,159,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,692,969 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,955,918,000 after purchasing an additional 2,369,119 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 51,219.6% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 688,196 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $351,868,000 after buying an additional 686,855 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Lululemon Athletica during the fourth quarter worth approximately $236,378,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 32.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,046,011 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $534,815,000 after buying an additional 257,944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 61.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 653,391 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $334,072,000 after acquiring an additional 249,232 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LULU has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $410.00 to $416.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Lululemon Athletica from $515.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Lululemon Athletica from $509.00 to $457.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. HSBC raised Lululemon Athletica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $405.00 to $425.00 in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $420.00 to $384.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $431.29.

Lululemon Athletica Stock Performance

Shares of LULU opened at $290.62 on Thursday. Lululemon Athletica Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $283.49 and a fifty-two week high of $516.39. The company has a market capitalization of $36.33 billion, a PE ratio of 23.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $316.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $396.01.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 5th. The apparel retailer reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.16. Lululemon Athletica had a return on equity of 42.64% and a net margin of 16.09%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.28 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lululemon Athletica Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lululemon Athletica declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Lululemon Athletica 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.