lululemon athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) Given New $145.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Key Points

• Jefferies cut its price target on lululemon to $145 from $170 and kept a "hold" rating, joining multiple firms that have lowered targets; MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of Hold with a $205.34 consensus target.
• lululemon beat quarterly estimates with $5.01 EPS (vs. $4.78 expected) and $3.64B revenue (vs. $3.59B expected), but results were roughly flat/down year-over-year and the stock trades near $147 versus a 12‑month high of $340.25 and low of $141.33.
• Insider purchases were reported recently: CEO Andre Maestrini bought 3,275 shares at $151.02 and a director bought 6,090 shares at $164.20, while insiders own about 0.54% of the company.

lululemon athletica (NASDAQ:LULU - Get Free Report) had its price target decreased by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $170.00 to $145.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has a "hold" rating on the apparel retailer's stock. Jefferies Financial Group's price objective points to a potential downside of 1.32% from the stock's current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of lululemon athletica from $189.00 to $176.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of lululemon athletica from $209.00 to $196.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of lululemon athletica from $210.00 to $176.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on lululemon athletica from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane cut their target price on lululemon athletica from $206.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, lululemon athletica currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $205.34.

lululemon athletica Price Performance

lululemon athletica stock opened at $146.94 on Tuesday. lululemon athletica has a 12 month low of $141.33 and a 12 month high of $340.25. The company has a market cap of $17.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 1.07. The stock's 50-day moving average is $164.62 and its 200-day moving average is $178.14.

lululemon athletica (NASDAQ:LULU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 17th. The apparel retailer reported $5.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.78 by $0.23. lululemon athletica had a net margin of 14.22% and a return on equity of 34.82%. The firm had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.14 earnings per share. lululemon athletica's revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that lululemon athletica will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at lululemon athletica

In other lululemon athletica news, CEO Andre Maestrini purchased 3,275 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $151.02 per share, for a total transaction of $494,590.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 34,551 shares in the company, valued at $5,217,892.02. This represents a 10.47% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles V. Bergh purchased 6,090 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $164.20 per share, for a total transaction of $999,978.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 6,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $999,978. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On lululemon athletica

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in lululemon athletica by 3.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,782,917 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $2,452,394,000 after buying an additional 521,915 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in lululemon athletica by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,049,911 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $631,526,000 after purchasing an additional 71,464 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in lululemon athletica by 28.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,200,552 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $391,544,000 after purchasing an additional 490,127 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in lululemon athletica by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,197,158 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $456,592,000 after acquiring an additional 59,282 shares during the period. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch SE grew its stake in shares of lululemon athletica by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 1,930,831 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $343,553,000 after buying an additional 290,614 shares in the last quarter. 85.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About lululemon athletica

lululemon athletica inc. is a design-focused athletic apparel company known for performance-oriented apparel, footwear and accessories. The company's product portfolio centers on technical apparel for yoga, running, training and everyday active lifestyle use and includes tops, bottoms, outerwear, underwear, bags and a growing footwear assortment. lululemon emphasizes fabric science and product innovation, marketing garments that blend performance features with lifestyle styling.

Products are developed in-house and produced through a network of third-party manufacturers.

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