B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) by 23.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,795 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 1,748 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Lululemon Athletica were worth $2,963,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,114,000. Rockline Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Lululemon Athletica during the fourth quarter worth about $1,503,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 30.3% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 189,953 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $73,248,000 after purchasing an additional 44,141 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its position in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 5,622 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,874,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,703 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $871,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. 85.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Martha A. M. Morfitt acquired 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $389.29 per share, for a total transaction of $272,503.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $194,645. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.48% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. HSBC raised Lululemon Athletica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $405.00 to $425.00 in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $555.00 to $505.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. BTIG Research started coverage on Lululemon Athletica in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $425.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp reduced their price target on Lululemon Athletica from $570.00 to $515.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $357.00 target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Lululemon Athletica currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $433.06.

Lululemon Athletica Stock Performance

Lululemon Athletica stock opened at $312.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $39.11 billion, a PE ratio of 25.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $333.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $417.59. Lululemon Athletica Inc. has a one year low of $293.03 and a one year high of $516.39.

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

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

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.