Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LITE) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $57.41, but opened at $59.51. Lumentum shares last traded at $61.90, with a volume of 359,618 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on LITE. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Lumentum from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Lumentum from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. B. Riley increased their price target on shares of Lumentum from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Lumentum in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Lumentum from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.33.

Lumentum Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.22 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 3.60, a current ratio of 4.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $81.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.22.

Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The technology company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.41). Lumentum had a negative net margin of 36.98% and a negative return on equity of 7.25%. As a group, research analysts expect that Lumentum Holdings Inc. will post 0.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lumentum news, CFO Wajid Ali sold 2,172 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.34, for a total transaction of $170,154.48. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,071,799.84. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lumentum

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in Lumentum by 31.1% in the 4th quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 514 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Lumentum by 54.2% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 370 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Lumentum by 27.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 766 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lumentum by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 4,350 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lumentum by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,029 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.05% of the company’s stock.

Lumentum Company Profile

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.