Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 254,217 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 4,042 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.21% of Lululemon Athletica worth $97,215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LULU. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 372 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,018 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 178 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 651 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 950 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. 85.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lululemon Athletica Stock Performance

LULU stock opened at $372.44 on Wednesday. Lululemon Athletica Inc. has a one year low of $226.01 and a one year high of $480.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.36 billion, a PE ratio of 26.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a fifty day moving average of $390.61 and a 200-day moving average of $322.16.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The apparel retailer reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.69 by $0.18. Lululemon Athletica had a net margin of 17.05% and a return on equity of 42.16%. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.53 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Lululemon Athletica Inc. will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LULU. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $265.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $270.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $380.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $414.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lululemon Athletica presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $399.14.

Insider Activity at Lululemon Athletica

In related news, insider Nicole Neuburger sold 2,022 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now owns 6,198 shares in the company, valued at $2,399,307.78. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Celeste Burgoyne sold 24,870 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $405.54, for a total transaction of $10,085,779.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,040,456.66. This trade represents a 66.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.48% 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.