Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 7,071 Shares of Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its holdings in Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,800 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 7,071 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Lululemon Athletica were worth $9,499,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its position in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 21,374 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $6,384,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. Narwhal Capital Management purchased a new stake in Lululemon Athletica during the second quarter worth about $203,000. Candriam S.C.A. raised its position in Lululemon Athletica by 38.8% in the second quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 117,861 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $35,203,000 after acquiring an additional 32,928 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 903 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 33,309 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $9,949,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. 85.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on LULU. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Lululemon Athletica from $415.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Lululemon Athletica from $300.00 to $270.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on Lululemon Athletica from $345.00 to $325.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Wedbush dropped their price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $400.00 to $324.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, TD Securities increased their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $375.00 to $382.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $354.94.

Lululemon Athletica Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of LULU stock opened at $253.84 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $266.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $332.15. Lululemon Athletica Inc. has a 12-month low of $226.01 and a 12-month high of $516.39. The firm has a market cap of $31.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.25.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The apparel retailer reported $3.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.22. Lululemon Athletica had a return on equity of 42.69% and a net margin of 16.34%. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.68 EPS. Lululemon Athletica’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Lululemon Athletica Inc. will post 13.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lululemon Athletica announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan 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 plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Lululemon Athletica

In related news, CEO Calvin Mcdonald acquired 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $260.00 per share, for a total transaction of $1,040,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 89,922 shares in the company, valued at $23,379,720. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.48% of the stock is owned by 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.