Verus Capital Partners LLC Trims Holdings in Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU)

Verus Capital Partners LLC trimmed its position in Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 770 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Lululemon Athletica were worth $294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Lululemon Athletica in the 4th quarter worth approximately $275,000. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd boosted its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 198.8% in the 3rd quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 6,860 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,844,000 after purchasing an additional 4,564 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 50.5% in the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 103,424 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $28,070,000 after purchasing an additional 34,704 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 876.8% in the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 2,022 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $549,000 after purchasing an additional 1,815 shares during the period. Finally, Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. bought a new position in Lululemon Athletica in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,251,000. 85.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LULU has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $438.00 price target (up from $370.00) on shares of Lululemon Athletica in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Lululemon Athletica from $380.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Lululemon Athletica from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $360.00 to $460.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Lululemon Athletica from $292.00 to $396.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, TD Securities increased their target price on Lululemon Athletica from $382.00 to $383.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One investment analyst has 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 MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $399.14.

Lululemon Athletica Stock Up 1.0 %

LULU stock opened at $365.61 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $386.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $329.64. Lululemon Athletica Inc. has a twelve month low of $226.01 and a twelve month high of $480.94. The firm has a market cap of $44.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.40, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.19.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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