Bell Asset Management Ltd Reduces Holdings in Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU)

Bell Asset Management Ltd lowered its position in shares of Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU - Free Report) by 16.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,568 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 2,873 shares during the period. Bell Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Lululemon Athletica were worth $5,571,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LULU. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Lululemon Athletica in the fourth quarter worth $523,520,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Lululemon Athletica during the 4th quarter valued at about $370,062,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in Lululemon Athletica by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,397,588 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,681,682,000 after acquiring an additional 571,657 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 31.0% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,781,237 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $681,163,000 after purchasing an additional 421,890 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Lululemon Athletica in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $142,235,000. Institutional investors own 85.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $424.00 to $353.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Telsey Advisory Group cut their target price on Lululemon Athletica from $445.00 to $385.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 28th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Lululemon Athletica from $376.00 to $335.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Lululemon Athletica from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $360.00 to $460.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Lululemon Athletica from $380.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $371.79.

Lululemon Athletica Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LULU traded up $4.41 on Friday, hitting $261.03. 1,959,792 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,239,572. Lululemon Athletica Inc. has a 1-year low of $226.01 and a 1-year high of $423.32. The company has a market capitalization of $31.49 billion, a PE ratio of 18.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.31. The firm's 50-day moving average is $332.40 and its 200 day moving average is $339.26.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 27th. The apparel retailer reported $6.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.85 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $3.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.59 billion. Lululemon Athletica had a net margin of 17.05% and a return on equity of 42.16%. Lululemon Athletica's revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.29 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Lululemon Athletica Inc. will post 14.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lululemon Athletica 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.