Merit Financial Group LLC Boosts Position in Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) by 113.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,687 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 897 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Lululemon Athletica were worth $645,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in Lululemon Athletica during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,364,000. First Pacific Financial lifted its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 3,096 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,184,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Lululemon Athletica during the fourth quarter worth $238,000. Greenhouse Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica in the fourth quarter valued at $229,000. Finally, Empirical Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 3,093.2% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC now owns 27,270 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $10,428,000 after acquiring an additional 26,416 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LULU has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $382.00 to $383.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $382.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Lululemon Athletica from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $360.00 to $460.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Lululemon Athletica from $260.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on Lululemon Athletica from $430.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $390.33.

Insider Activity

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

Lululemon Athletica Price Performance

Shares of LULU stock opened at $382.82 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $364.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $305.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. Lululemon Athletica Inc. has a 12 month low of $226.01 and a 12 month high of $491.30.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The apparel retailer reported $2.87 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 business had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.53 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lululemon Athletica Inc. will post 14.34 EPS for the current 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.