LightPath Technologies (NASDAQ:LPTH) Trading 9.7% Higher – Here’s What Happened

LightPath Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPTH) shot up 9.7% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $16.04 and last traded at $15.99. 865,354 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 3,200,706 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.57.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on LPTH shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of LightPath Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of LightPath Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of LightPath Technologies from $15.50 to $16.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.12.

LightPath Technologies Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.35. The firm has a market cap of $997.73 million, a PE ratio of -31.78 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 3.86, a quick ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

LightPath Technologies (NASDAQ:LPTH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The technology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02). LightPath Technologies had a negative return on equity of 15.55% and a negative net margin of 37.38%.The firm had revenue of $19.15 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 million. On average, research analysts forecast that LightPath Technologies, Inc. will post -0.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LightPath Technologies news, Director Run Strategic Opportunit North sold 3,571,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.00, for a total transaction of $49,999,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,934,828 shares in the company, valued at $41,087,592. This trade represents a 54.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold 3,864,452 shares of company stock worth $53,576,437 over the last three months. 24.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of LightPath Technologies

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LPTH. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of LightPath Technologies by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 57,684 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $579,000 after acquiring an additional 3,276 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of LightPath Technologies by 45.8% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,623 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $180,000 after purchasing an additional 5,223 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. increased its position in LightPath Technologies by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. now owns 63,600 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $687,000 after purchasing an additional 6,691 shares during the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its position in LightPath Technologies by 41.3% in the fourth quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 28,400 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 8,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in LightPath Technologies by 707.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,565 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 8,380 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.29% of the company’s stock.

LightPath Technologies Company Profile

LightPath Technologies, Inc designs, manufactures and distributes precision optical components and assemblies for a variety of commercial, industrial, defense and scientific applications. The company’s portfolio includes molded glass aspheric lenses, precision glass optics, infrared lenses and assemblies, diamond-turned optics and molded polymer optics. These components are engineered to support imaging, illumination, laser delivery, detection and sensing systems across visible, ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths.

Among its core offerings, LightPath develops infrared optical solutions using materials such as germanium, zinc selenide and chalcogenide glasses for thermal imaging, night-vision devices and spectroscopy.