Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) Stock Rating Upgraded by Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has $475.00 price objective on the apparel retailer's stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $438.00 target price (up from $370.00) on shares of Lululemon Athletica in a research note on Friday, December 6th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $265.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Lululemon Athletica from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $360.00 to $460.00 in a research report on Tuesday. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Lululemon Athletica in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Lululemon Athletica from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $382.73.

Lululemon Athletica Stock Up 0.7 %

LULU stock traded up $2.88 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $395.80. 880,099 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,294,046. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.20 billion, a PE ratio of 28.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50-day moving average of $354.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $301.28. Lululemon Athletica has a 52 week low of $226.01 and a 52 week high of $491.30.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The apparel retailer reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.69 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. Lululemon Athletica had a return on equity of 42.16% and a net margin of 17.05%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.53 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Lululemon Athletica will post 14.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lululemon Athletica news, insider Nicole Neuburger sold 2,022 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $387.11, for a total transaction of $782,736.42. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,399,307.78. This represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Celeste Burgoyne sold 24,870 shares of Lululemon Athletica stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $405.54, for a total transaction of $10,085,779.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,429 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,040,456.66. This represents a 66.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Paladin Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Lululemon Athletica in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 66.7% during the 2nd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 115 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 127.5% in the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 116 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 110.1% in the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 145 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.