Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Shares of Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LITE) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $97.50 and last traded at $94.29, with a volume of 278021 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $94.41.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on LITE. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Lumentum in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Raymond James raised their target price on Lumentum from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Lumentum from $69.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Lumentum from $80.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Northland Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Lumentum from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lumentum has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.92.

Lumentum Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $87.34 and its 200 day moving average is $69.14. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported ($0.35) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.48). Lumentum had a negative return on equity of 6.79% and a negative net margin of 40.70%. The company had revenue of $336.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $326.94 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.10) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lumentum Holdings Inc. will post -0.02 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lumentum news, Director Penny Herscher sold 1,625 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.09, for a total value of $131,771.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $555,628.68. This trade represents a 19.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Harold L. Covert sold 3,345 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.78, for a total transaction of $273,554.10. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $713,857.62. This trade represents a 27.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 101,797 shares of company stock worth $8,881,428 in the last quarter. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lumentum

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of LITE. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. bought a new position in shares of Lumentum in the fourth quarter worth approximately $646,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Lumentum during the fourth quarter worth about $86,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Lumentum by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 4,647 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC bought a new stake in Lumentum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,052,000. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.