Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Acquires 28,305 Shares of Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU)

by · The Cerbat Gem

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU – Free Report) by 9.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 324,358 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 28,305 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Lululemon Athletica were worth $125,076,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MetLife Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica in the 1st quarter worth about $2,696,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 48.4% during the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,647 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $602,000 after buying an additional 537 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 2.5% during the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 4,022 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,469,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 6.5% in the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 1,251 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $457,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential PLC purchased a new position in Lululemon Athletica during the 1st quarter valued at $774,000. Institutional investors own 91.50% of the company’s stock.

Lululemon Athletica Price Performance

NASDAQ:LULU opened at $479.94 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $467.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $412.77. Lululemon Athletica Inc. has a 1-year low of $286.58 and a 1-year high of $516.39. The firm has a market cap of $60.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.38.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 7th. The apparel retailer reported $2.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.25. Lululemon Athletica had a net margin of 10.89% and a return on equity of 44.81%. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lululemon Athletica Inc. will post 12.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lululemon Athletica declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the apparel retailer to purchase up to 1.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LULU has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Lululemon Athletica in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Lululemon Athletica from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Lululemon Athletica from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 8th. Evercore increased their price target on Lululemon Athletica from $475.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 5th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price target on Lululemon Athletica from $420.00 to $503.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lululemon Athletica has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.61.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on LULU

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lululemon Athletica news, CFO Meghan Frank sold 1,553 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $776,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,190,500. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Lululemon Athletica news, insider Nicole Neuburger sold 705 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $352,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,996 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,998,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Meghan Frank sold 1,553 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $776,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,190,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 42,658 shares of company stock valued at $21,183,956. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lululemon Athletica Profile

(Free Report)

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 operates in two segments, Company-Operated Stores and Direct to Consumer. The company offers pants, shorts, tops, and jackets for healthy lifestyle, such as yoga, running, training, and other activities.

Further Reading

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