Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) Trading Down 2.4% on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) dropped 2.4% during trading on Wednesday after Wedbush lowered their price target on the stock from $400.00 to $324.00. Wedbush currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Lululemon Athletica traded as low as $263.17 and last traded at $264.67. Approximately 546,274 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 2,074,405 shares. The stock had previously closed at $271.18.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $430.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $445.00 price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. HSBC upgraded Lululemon Athletica from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $405.00 to $425.00 in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Lululemon Athletica from $300.00 to $270.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $420.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $375.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lululemon Athletica

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LULU. Value Star Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd boosted its position in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 19,890.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 4,630,466 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 32.3% during the fourth 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 period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Lululemon Athletica during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $236,378,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 359.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 204,500 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $61,084,000 after purchasing an additional 283,344 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised 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 buying an additional 257,944 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.20% of the company’s stock.

Lululemon Athletica Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $274.73 and a 200 day moving average of $342.43. The firm has a market cap of $32.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.26.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 5th. The apparel retailer reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.16. Lululemon Athletica had a return on equity of 42.64% and a net margin of 16.09%. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lululemon Athletica Inc. will post 14.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lululemon Athletica announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, June 5th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows 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 board of directors 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.