American Century Companies Inc. Buys 82,731 Shares of Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU)

American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,769,096 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 82,731 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Lululemon Athletica were worth $528,429,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LULU. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,847,954 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,847,103,000 after purchasing an additional 154,985 shares during the last quarter. Value Star Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd increased its position in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 19,890.3% in the second quarter. Value Star Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd now owns 4,653,746 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,390,074,000 after purchasing an additional 4,630,466 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,547,793 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $791,371,000 after purchasing an additional 14,112 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 1.7% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,139,812 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $445,268,000 after purchasing an additional 18,924 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 32.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,046,011 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $534,815,000 after purchasing an additional 257,944 shares during the last quarter. 85.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Calvin Mcdonald acquired 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $260.00 per share, for a total transaction of $1,040,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 89,922 shares in the company, valued at $23,379,720. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lululemon Athletica Trading Up 3.2 %

LULU opened at $255.20 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $263.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $327.92. The company has a market cap of $31.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.25. Lululemon Athletica Inc. has a 12-month low of $226.01 and a 12-month high of $516.39.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The apparel retailer reported $3.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.41 billion. Lululemon Athletica had a return on equity of 42.59% and a net margin of 16.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.68 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Lululemon Athletica Inc. will post 14.03 EPS for the current year.

Lululemon Athletica declared that its Board of Directors 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LULU has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $420.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $291.00 to $292.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Lululemon Athletica from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $463.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. TD Securities increased their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $375.00 to $382.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $416.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $354.94.

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.