Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Sells 38 Shares of Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU)

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) by 32.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 38 shares during the quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Lululemon Athletica were worth $41,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 grew its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 now owns 1,904 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $973,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,349 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,201,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP purchased a new position in shares of Lululemon Athletica in the fourth quarter worth about $456,000. Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 1,196 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $612,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,097 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $561,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. 85.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LULU has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $520.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 5th. HSBC cut shares of Lululemon Athletica from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 8th. Guggenheim reduced their price target on Lululemon Athletica from $550.00 to $525.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Lululemon Athletica from $408.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lululemon Athletica presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $493.66.

Lululemon Athletica Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of LULU opened at $390.65 on Friday. Lululemon Athletica Inc. has a 52 week low of $326.93 and a 52 week high of $516.39. The stock has a market cap of $49.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $458.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $441.95.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The apparel retailer reported $5.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.00 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $3.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.19 billion. Lululemon Athletica had a return on equity of 44.41% and a net margin of 16.11%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.40 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Lululemon Athletica Inc. will post 14.17 EPS for the current year.

Lululemon Athletica declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 7th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the apparel retailer to purchase up to 1.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lululemon Athletica

In other news, Director Martha A. M. Morfitt bought 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $389.29 per share, for a total transaction of $272,503.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $194,645. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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 operates in two segments, Company-Operated Stores and Direct to Consumer. The company offers pants, shorts, tops, and jackets for healthy lifestyle, such as yoga, running, training, and other activities.