Norges Bank Acquires Shares of 371,944 Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU)

Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 371,944 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $142,235,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Lululemon Athletica in the 4th quarter worth about $370,062,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 248.5% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 323,031 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $123,530,000 after acquiring an additional 230,349 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica during the 4th quarter valued at $44,318,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica during the 3rd quarter worth $28,517,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 61.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 250,175 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $67,885,000 after purchasing an additional 94,997 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LULU has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $313.00 to $302.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Lululemon Athletica from $475.00 to $430.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Lululemon Athletica from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $360.00 to $460.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $382.00 to $383.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $437.00 to $391.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $380.72.

Lululemon Athletica Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ LULU opened at $283.06 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $34.47 billion, a PE ratio of 20.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.21. Lululemon Athletica Inc. has a twelve month low of $226.01 and a twelve month high of $423.32. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $362.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $340.38.

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

Lululemon Athletica 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.