Pacer Advisors Inc. Grows Holdings in Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU)

Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) by 203.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,233 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,221 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Lululemon Athletica were worth $7,788,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lululemon Athletica during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Lululemon Athletica during the 4th quarter valued at about $74,000. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its holdings in Lululemon Athletica by 108.1% during the 4th quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 15,207 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $7,775,000 after acquiring an additional 7,900 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Lululemon Athletica during the fourth quarter worth about $285,000. Finally, Cooper Financial Group acquired a new stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica during the fourth quarter worth about $218,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.20% of the company’s stock.

Lululemon Athletica Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LULU opened at $389.46 on Thursday. Lululemon Athletica Inc. has a one year low of $314.22 and a one year high of $516.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.90, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $459.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $442.32.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The apparel retailer reported $5.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.00 by $0.29. Lululemon Athletica had a return on equity of 44.41% and a net margin of 16.11%. The firm had revenue of $3.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lululemon Athletica Inc. will post 14.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lululemon Athletica declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 7th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the apparel retailer to repurchase up to 1.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LULU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $531.00 to $509.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Lululemon Athletica from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Roth Capital lifted their target price on Lululemon Athletica from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 8th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Lululemon Athletica from $575.00 to $515.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $493.66.

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 operates in two segments, Company-Operated Stores and Direct to Consumer. The company offers pants, shorts, tops, and jackets for healthy lifestyle, such as yoga, running, training, and other activities.