Gradient Capital Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU)

Gradient Capital Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,959 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 43 shares during the quarter. Gradient Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lululemon Athletica were worth $765,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Lululemon Athletica by 54.5% in the 1st quarter. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $664,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Asio Capital LLC raised its position in Lululemon Athletica by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Asio Capital LLC now owns 5,622 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,196,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. Dohj LLC raised its position in Lululemon Athletica by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Dohj LLC now owns 2,063 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $806,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Lululemon Athletica by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,354 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $529,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in Lululemon Athletica by 202.8% in the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,714 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $670,000 after acquiring an additional 1,148 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.20% of the company’s stock.

Lululemon Athletica Stock Down 3.1 %

Lululemon Athletica stock traded down $9.60 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $298.70. The stock had a trading volume of 3,496,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,852,565. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.27. Lululemon Athletica Inc. has a 12-month low of $293.03 and a 12-month high of $516.39. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $327.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $407.51.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 5th. The apparel retailer reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.16. Lululemon Athletica had a net margin of 16.09% and a return on equity of 42.64%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.28 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Lululemon Athletica Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lululemon Athletica declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on LULU shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $425.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $397.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $550.00 to $525.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $357.00 price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $498.00 to $415.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $433.06.

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.