Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) Upgraded to Buy at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has $475.00 price target on the apparel retailer’s stock.

LULU has been the topic of several other reports. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Lululemon Athletica from $260.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $345.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $261.00 to $378.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Lululemon Athletica in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $320.00 to $355.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $382.73.

Lululemon Athletica Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LULU opened at $395.47 on Friday. Lululemon Athletica has a 52 week low of $226.01 and a 52 week high of $491.30. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $355.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $301.86. The firm has a market cap of $48.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.18.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The apparel retailer reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.69 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. Lululemon Athletica had a net margin of 17.05% and a return on equity of 42.16%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.53 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lululemon Athletica will post 14.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Lululemon Athletica

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

Institutional Trading of Lululemon Athletica

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. West Oak Capital LLC bought a new position in Lululemon Athletica during the fourth quarter worth $595,000. Graypoint LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica in the 4th quarter valued at about $221,000. Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. now owns 9,373 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,584,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the period. Sage Capital Advisors llc bought a new stake in Lululemon Athletica in the 4th quarter valued at about $229,000. Finally, Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC raised its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 52.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 105,263 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $40,254,000 after buying an additional 36,184 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.20% of the company’s stock.

Lululemon Athletica Company Profile

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.