Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LITE) shares gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $77.91, but opened at $84.02. Lumentum shares last traded at $85.22, with a volume of 651,762 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays raised shares of Lumentum from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Lumentum from $69.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Northland Securities upped their price target on shares of Lumentum from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Lumentum in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on Lumentum from $80.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lumentum currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.77.

Lumentum Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $87.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 5.36.

Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported ($0.35) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.48). The company had revenue of $336.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $326.94 million. Lumentum had a negative return on equity of 6.79% and a negative net margin of 40.70%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.10) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lumentum Holdings Inc. will post -0.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lumentum

In related news, CAO Matthew Joseph Sepe sold 8,172 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.60, for a total value of $715,867.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 21,138 shares in the company, valued at $1,851,688.80. This represents a 27.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Vincent Retort sold 41,710 shares of Lumentum stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.52, for a total value of $3,733,879.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 147,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,205,542.80. The trade was a 22.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 101,797 shares of company stock valued at $8,881,428. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lumentum

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LITE. Atreides Management LP grew its position in Lumentum by 28.5% during the 3rd quarter. Atreides Management LP now owns 1,691,017 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $107,177,000 after purchasing an additional 375,389 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Lumentum in the third quarter worth approximately $17,981,000. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Lumentum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,668,000. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its position in shares of Lumentum by 50.4% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 407,789 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,846,000 after acquiring an additional 136,659 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castleark Management LLC purchased a new position in Lumentum in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,205,000. 94.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Lumentum

Lumentum Holdings Inc manufactures and sells optical and photonic products in the Americas, the Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The company operates through two segments: Optical Communications (OpComms) and Commercial Lasers (Lasers). The OpComms segment offers components, modules, and subsystems that enable the transmission and transport of video, audio, and data over high-capacity fiber optic cables.