Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) Stock Position Raised by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) by 44.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,873 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,443 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Lululemon Athletica were worth $19,072,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Lululemon Athletica by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,018 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $389,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Lululemon Athletica by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 651 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in Lululemon Athletica by 4.6% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 950 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. First Pacific Financial raised its holdings in Lululemon Athletica by 1.4% during the fourth 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. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 902 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $345,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LULU has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $438.00 target price (up previously from $370.00) on shares of Lululemon Athletica in a research report on Friday, December 6th. TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $382.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $382.00 to $383.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $428.00 to $437.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Lululemon Athletica from $378.00 to $411.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lululemon Athletica currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $395.67.

Lululemon Athletica Price Performance

Shares of LULU stock opened at $409.42 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $370.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $308.53. Lululemon Athletica Inc. has a one year low of $226.01 and a one year high of $491.30. The firm has a market cap of $49.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.18.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The apparel retailer reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.69 by $0.18. Lululemon Athletica had a net margin of 17.05% and a return on equity of 42.16%. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.53 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lululemon Athletica Inc. will post 14.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Nicole Neuburger sold 2,022 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $387.11, for a total value of $782,736.42. Following the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Celeste Burgoyne sold 24,870 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $405.54, for a total value of $10,085,779.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,040,456.66. This represents a 66.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.