Lululemon Athletica Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:LULU)

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Investors acquired 38,342 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 64% compared to the typical volume of 23,384 call options.

Institutional Trading of Lululemon Athletica

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Lululemon Athletica in the fourth quarter valued at about $275,000. Nutshell Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Lululemon Athletica during the fourth quarter worth about $956,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 495.1% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 4,255 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,627,000 after acquiring an additional 3,540 shares during the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. bought a new position in shares of Lululemon Athletica during the fourth quarter worth about $17,775,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in shares of Lululemon Athletica during the fourth quarter worth about $2,229,000. 85.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lululemon Athletica Stock Performance

LULU traded down $6.22 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $252.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,448,322 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,200,905. Lululemon Athletica has a 52 week low of $226.01 and a 52 week high of $423.32. The company's 50-day moving average is $285.28 and its 200-day moving average is $336.70. The firm has a market cap of $30.43 billion, a PE ratio of 18.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.26.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 5th. The apparel retailer reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.60. Lululemon Athletica had a return on equity of 42.16% and a net margin of 17.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.54 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Lululemon Athletica will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on LULU. Argus cut Lululemon Athletica from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. CICC Research restated a "market perform" rating and set a $280.49 target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Lululemon Athletica from $353.00 to $324.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Lululemon Athletica in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, BTIG Research decreased their target price on Lululemon Athletica from $420.00 to $405.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lululemon Athletica has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $340.26.

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.