Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $7.66 Million Holdings in Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) by 32.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,656 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 6,309 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Lululemon Athletica were worth $7,664,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LULU. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Lululemon Athletica in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,114,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 31.8% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 15,425 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,607,000 after buying an additional 3,721 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 202.8% during the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,714 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $670,000 after buying an additional 1,148 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 34,709 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $10,368,000 after acquiring an additional 3,077 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its position in Lululemon Athletica by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 5,622 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,874,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares during the period. 85.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America dropped their target price on Lululemon Athletica from $440.00 to $355.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $350.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $420.00 to $384.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Lululemon Athletica from $416.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $354.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Calvin Mcdonald acquired 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $260.00 per share, for a total transaction of $1,040,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 89,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,379,720. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Lululemon Athletica Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of LULU stock opened at $255.20 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.25. Lululemon Athletica Inc. has a 1 year low of $226.01 and a 1 year high of $516.39. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $263.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $327.92.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The apparel retailer reported $3.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.22. Lululemon Athletica had a net margin of 16.34% and a return on equity of 42.59%. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.68 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lululemon Athletica Inc. will post 14.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lululemon Athletica declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 5th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the apparel retailer to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is 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.