Needham & Company LLC Initiates Coverage on Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU)

Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on shares of Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU - Free Report) in a report issued on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a hold rating on the apparel retailer's stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $326.00 to $314.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $263.00 to $261.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their target price on Lululemon Athletica from $470.00 to $360.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Lululemon Athletica from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $463.00 to $286.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $357.13.

Lululemon Athletica Stock Up 1.2 %

LULU stock traded up $3.68 during trading on Friday, hitting $318.82. 1,245,158 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,085,774. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $290.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $289.10. Lululemon Athletica has a 52 week low of $226.01 and a 52 week high of $516.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The apparel retailer reported $3.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.41 billion. Lululemon Athletica had a return on equity of 42.59% and a net margin of 16.34%. The business's revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lululemon Athletica will post 14.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Lululemon Athletica

In other news, insider Nicole Neuburger sold 486 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.59, for a total transaction of $131,020.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,198 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,670,918.82. This trade represents a 7.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Calvin Mcdonald acquired 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $260.00 per share, with a total value of $1,040,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 89,922 shares in the company, valued at $23,379,720. This represents a 4.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lululemon Athletica

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Value Star Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 19,890.3% during the 2nd 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. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,474,828 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $669,036,000 after purchasing an additional 44,294 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 4.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,769,096 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $528,429,000 after purchasing an additional 82,731 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,040,384 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $310,763,000 after buying an additional 37,239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 74,856.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 895,726 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $243,055,000 after buying an additional 894,531 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.20% of the company's stock.

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.