Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in lululemon athletica inc. (NASDAQ:LULU)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. reduced its position in lululemon athletica inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) by 5.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,066 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 2,572 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in lululemon athletica were worth $12,473,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Twin Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in lululemon athletica by 58.3% in the first quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,676 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,041,000 after buying an additional 1,354 shares in the last quarter. Narwhal Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of lululemon athletica by 262.7% in the 1st quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 18,777 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $5,315,000 after acquiring an additional 13,600 shares during the last quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of lululemon athletica in the 1st quarter valued at $9,209,000. Flossbach Von Storch SE grew its holdings in shares of lululemon athletica by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 1,401,885 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $396,818,000 after purchasing an additional 130,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bender Robert & Associates raised its position in lululemon athletica by 18.5% in the 1st quarter. Bender Robert & Associates now owns 44,961 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $12,727,000 after purchasing an additional 7,028 shares during the period. 85.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays cut their price target on shares of lululemon athletica from $270.00 to $209.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. BTIG Research reduced their price target on lululemon athletica from $420.00 to $405.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Bank of America decreased their price target on lululemon athletica from $400.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on lululemon athletica from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of lululemon athletica from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, lululemon athletica presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $329.91.

lululemon athletica Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of LULU opened at $196.51 on Thursday. lululemon athletica inc. has a twelve month low of $191.44 and a twelve month high of $423.32. The company has a market capitalization of $23.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $241.47 and a 200 day moving average of $296.17.

lululemon athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The apparel retailer reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.60. lululemon athletica had a return on equity of 43.48% and a net margin of 16.82%. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.54 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that lululemon athletica inc. will post 14.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Calvin Mcdonald sold 27,049 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.69, for a total value of $6,375,178.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,058,829.16. This trade represents a 19.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.