Needham & Company LLC Reiterates Buy Rating for Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE)

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $110.00 price target on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on LITE. Barclays upgraded shares of Lumentum from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $80.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Lumentum from $80.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Lumentum in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Lumentum from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Northland Securities lifted their price target on shares of Lumentum from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.07.

Lumentum Trading Down 7.3 %

Shares of Lumentum stock opened at $85.90 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.49. The company has a current ratio of 5.36, a quick ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.87. Lumentum has a 12-month low of $38.28 and a 12-month high of $104.00.

Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The technology company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.41). Lumentum had a negative net margin of 36.98% and a negative return on equity of 7.00%. Analysts predict that Lumentum will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Lumentum

In related news, Director Harold L. Covert sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.17, for a total transaction of $1,307,550.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $763,696.37. This trade represents a 63.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Vincent Retort sold 41,710 shares of Lumentum stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.52, for a total transaction of $3,733,879.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 147,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,205,542.80. The trade was a 22.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 101,797 shares of company stock worth $8,881,428. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LITE. Quarry LP boosted its stake in Lumentum by 85.5% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 436 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Lumentum by 301.2% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 337 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Lumentum by 54.2% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 370 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Lumentum in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Lumentum by 67.5% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 670 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. 94.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.