Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Friday after BTIG Research lowered their price target on the stock from $470.00 to $420.00. The stock had previously closed at $341.53, but opened at $301.05. BTIG Research currently has a buy rating on the stock. Lululemon Athletica shares last traded at $287.81, with a volume of 4,253,418 shares traded.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on LULU. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $375.00 to $315.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Lululemon Athletica from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $360.00 to $460.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $430.00 price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica in a research note on Friday. Barclays cut their price objective on Lululemon Athletica from $411.00 to $309.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Lululemon Athletica from $376.00 to $335.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $380.72.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Lululemon Athletica during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lululemon Athletica in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lululemon Athletica during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 309.5% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 85.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lululemon Athletica Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $35.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.21. The stock's fifty day moving average is $364.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $339.62.

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

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.