Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 820 Shares of Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU)

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) by 111.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,558 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 820 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Lululemon Athletica were worth $797,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LULU. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 736.1% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,898 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,671 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 122.0% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,915 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $14,784,000 after acquiring an additional 15,893 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 101.6% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 226,391 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $115,751,000 after buying an additional 114,067 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 28.8% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 28,148 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $14,392,000 after buying an additional 6,289 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 51.4% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 1,615 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $826,000 after buying an additional 548 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.20% of the company’s stock.

Lululemon Athletica Stock Down 1.4 %

Lululemon Athletica stock opened at $350.24 on Tuesday. Lululemon Athletica Inc. has a 52-week low of $326.93 and a 52-week high of $516.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.68, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $398.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $437.42.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The apparel retailer reported $5.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 16.11% and a return on equity of 44.41%. The company’s revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.40 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lululemon Athletica Inc. will post 14.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lululemon Athletica

In related news, Director Martha A. M. Morfitt bought 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of $389.29 per share, with a total value of $272,503.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $194,645. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $553.00 to $515.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $430.00 to $384.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $445.00 target price (down previously from $540.00) on shares of Lululemon Athletica in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $525.00 to $470.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of 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, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $476.57.

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.