Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Reduces Stock Position in Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. decreased its position in Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,793 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 92 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Lululemon Athletica were worth $686,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Lululemon Athletica by 51.6% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,677 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $455,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 11.8% during the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 2,977 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $808,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Lululemon Athletica in the third quarter worth $210,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in Lululemon Athletica by 13.1% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 3,074 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $834,000 after acquiring an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC purchased a new position in Lululemon Athletica during the 3rd quarter valued at $285,000. 85.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on LULU shares. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Lululemon Athletica in a research report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Lululemon Athletica from $315.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays upped their target price on Lululemon Athletica from $378.00 to $411.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Lululemon Athletica from $380.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Lululemon Athletica from $428.00 to $437.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $395.55.

Lululemon Athletica Price Performance

LULU stock opened at $341.53 on Friday. Lululemon Athletica Inc. has a 1 year low of $226.01 and a 1 year high of $423.32. The company has a market cap of $41.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $366.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $338.67.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 27th. The apparel retailer reported $6.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.85 by $0.29. Lululemon Athletica had a return on equity of 42.16% and a net margin of 17.05%. The business had revenue of $3.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.29 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Lululemon Athletica Inc. will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current year.

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.