AQR Capital Management LLC Grows Stake in Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU)

AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) by 92.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 106,730 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 51,355 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Lululemon Athletica were worth $31,823,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LULU. Value Star Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd increased its position in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 19,890.3% during the second quarter. Value Star Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd now owns 4,653,746 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,390,074,000 after acquiring an additional 4,630,466 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,369,119 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 359.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 204,500 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $61,084,000 after acquiring an additional 283,344 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 32.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,046,011 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $534,815,000 after acquiring an additional 257,944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its position in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 2,485.5% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 238,664 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $122,027,000 after acquiring an additional 229,433 shares during the last quarter. 85.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LULU has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Lululemon Athletica from $470.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Raymond James decreased their price target on Lululemon Athletica from $350.00 to $325.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 2nd. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Lululemon Athletica from $420.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their price target on Lululemon Athletica from $470.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Lululemon Athletica from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $463.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lululemon Athletica currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $354.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Calvin Mcdonald bought 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $260.00 per share, with a total value of $1,040,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 89,922 shares in the company, valued at $23,379,720. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lululemon Athletica Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LULU opened at $280.01 on Monday. Lululemon Athletica Inc. has a 12 month low of $226.01 and a 12 month high of $516.39. The stock has a market cap of $35.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.45, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.25. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $257.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $310.64.

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

Lululemon Athletica declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, June 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.