Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) Shares Gap Up Following Insider Buying Activity

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up prior to trading on Friday following insider buying activity. The stock had previously closed at $253.70, but opened at $262.13. Lululemon Athletica shares last traded at $258.25, with a volume of 345,400 shares changing hands.

Specifically, CEO Calvin Mcdonald purchased 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $260.00 per share, for a total transaction of $1,040,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 89,922 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,379,720. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica in a research report on Monday, August 26th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $415.00 to $350.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $420.00 to $384.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $416.00 to $370.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $354.94.

Lululemon Athletica Trading Up 0.1 %

The company's 50-day moving average price is $266.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $332.93. The company has a market cap of $31.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.25.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The apparel retailer reported $3.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.22. Lululemon Athletica had a return on equity of 42.69% and a net margin of 16.34%. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.68 EPS. Lululemon Athletica's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lululemon Athletica Inc. will post 13.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Lululemon Athletica announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, June 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lululemon Athletica during the fourth quarter valued at $357,000. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 7,769 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $3,972,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Lincoln National Corp raised its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 1,507 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $771,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 73.8% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,605 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,332,000 after buying an additional 1,106 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Lululemon Athletica in the 4th quarter worth approximately $306,000. 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.