Avanza Fonder AB Purchases Shares of 8,797 Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU)

Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 8,797 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,364,000.

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

Lululemon Athletica Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LULU opened at $373.70 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $361.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $304.04. Lululemon Athletica Inc. has a 52-week low of $226.01 and a 52-week high of $491.30. The stock has a market cap of $45.51 billion, a PE ratio of 26.98, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.18.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The apparel retailer reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Lululemon Athletica Inc. will post 14.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LULU. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of 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 research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Lululemon Athletica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $475.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. TD Securities raised their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $382.00 to $383.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Two research 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $390.33.

Insider Activity at Lululemon Athletica

In related news, insider Celeste Burgoyne sold 24,870 shares of Lululemon Athletica stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 12,429 shares in the company, valued at $5,040,456.66. This trade represents a 66.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicole Neuburger sold 2,022 shares of Lululemon Athletica 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 owns 6,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,399,307.78. The trade was a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.