Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LITE)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $89.36, but opened at $94.13. Lumentum shares last traded at $92.83, with a volume of 354,641 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on LITE shares. Northland Securities upped their price objective on shares of Lumentum from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Lumentum from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Lumentum from $76.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Lumentum from $80.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Lumentum from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $80.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.92.

Lumentum Trading Up 4.9 %

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a current ratio of 5.36. The firm has a market cap of $6.44 billion, a PE ratio of -11.30 and a beta of 0.94.

Insider Activity at Lumentum

In related news, CFO Wajid Ali sold 29,887 shares of Lumentum stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.06, for a total transaction of $2,542,188.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 56,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,805,209.52. This trade represents a 34.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Matthew Joseph Sepe sold 8,172 shares of Lumentum stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.60, for a total value of $715,867.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 21,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,851,688.80. This represents a 27.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 101,797 shares of company stock worth $8,881,428. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lumentum

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lumentum by 4.0% in the 4th 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 period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Lumentum by 301.2% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 337 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Lumentum during the 4th quarter worth about $1,165,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Lumentum during the 4th quarter worth about $2,723,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in Lumentum during the 4th quarter worth about $773,000. 94.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.