Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Buys New Shares in Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 119 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $36,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LULU. Value Star Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 19,890.3% in the 2nd quarter. Value Star Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd now owns 4,653,746 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,390,074,000 after buying an additional 4,630,466 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 32.3% in the 4th 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. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica in the 4th quarter worth about $236,378,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 32.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,046,011 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $534,815,000 after purchasing an additional 257,944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 2,485.5% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 238,664 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $122,027,000 after purchasing an additional 229,433 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.20% of the company’s stock.

Lululemon Athletica Price Performance

Shares of LULU stock opened at $265.30 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $33.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $261.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $322.65. Lululemon Athletica Inc. has a one year low of $226.01 and a one year high of $516.39.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The apparel retailer reported $3.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.41 billion. Lululemon Athletica had a net margin of 16.34% and a return on equity of 42.59%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lululemon Athletica Inc. will post 14.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lululemon Athletica announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LULU has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $263.00 to $261.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on Lululemon Athletica from $345.00 to $325.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Lululemon Athletica from $420.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective on Lululemon Athletica from $470.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $354.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lululemon Athletica

In other news, CEO Calvin Mcdonald purchased 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $260.00 per share, for a total transaction of $1,040,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 89,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,379,720. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.48% 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.