Westpac Banking Corp Buys Shares of 4,358 Lumentum Holdings Inc. $LITE

Key Points

• Westpac Banking Corp initiated a position in Lumentum, purchasing 4,358 shares worth approximately $3.74 million. Institutional investors collectively own 94.05% of the company.
• Lumentum reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.23 beating estimates and revenue rising 109.3% year over year to $1.01 billion. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $1,044.67.
• The stock has benefited from optimism around AI-driven data-center demand, but valuation and profitability remain concerns: shares are near their 52-week high, while the company reported a negative net margin and insiders have sold shares under pre-arranged plans.

Westpac Banking Corp purchased a new position in Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LITE - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,358 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $3,739,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Lumentum by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,854,801 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $683,661,000 after acquiring an additional 291,591 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lumentum by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,412,213 shares of the technology company's stock worth $521,563,000 after purchasing an additional 123,265 shares in the last quarter. Situational Awareness LP boosted its holdings in shares of Lumentum by 210.9% in the 4th quarter. Situational Awareness LP now owns 1,298,400 shares of the technology company's stock worth $478,577,000 after purchasing an additional 880,800 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Lumentum during the 4th quarter valued at about $474,495,000. Finally, Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Lumentum during the 4th quarter valued at about $432,062,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.05% of the company's stock.

Lumentum Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of LITE stock opened at $866.71 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $809.76 and a 200 day moving average of $790.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.40. Lumentum Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.89 and a 1-year high of $1,085.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.74 billion, a PE ratio of -10.54 and a beta of 1.50.

Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The technology company reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.26. Lumentum had a positive return on equity of 26.34% and a negative net margin of 230.15%.The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $987.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 109.3% on a year-over-year basis. Lumentum has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 4.050-4.350 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lumentum Holdings Inc. will post 19.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LITE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Lumentum from $900.00 to $1,400.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Lumentum from $1,100.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,036.00 price objective on shares of Lumentum in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $1,200.00 price objective on shares of Lumentum in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Lumentum from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,044.67.

Insider Activity

In other Lumentum news, insider Yuen Wupen sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $827.82, for a total transaction of $1,241,730.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 100,434 shares of the company's stock, valued at $83,141,273.88. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Vincent Retort sold 3,183 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $909.43, for a total transaction of $2,894,715.69. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 114,495 shares of the company's stock, valued at $104,125,187.85. The trade was a 2.70% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 16,352 shares of company stock worth $14,315,562 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.43% of the company's stock.

Lumentum News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Lumentum this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Northland Securities raised its Lumentum earnings forecasts substantially. The firm lifted its FY2027 EPS estimate to $19.81 from $14.97, with quarterly estimates now ranging from $3.81 in Q1 to $6.20 in Q4. Northland maintained an “Outperform” rating and a $1,200 price target, supporting the bullish case for continued earnings growth. Northland Securities analyst estimate report
• Positive Sentiment: Lumentum is being highlighted as an AI-infrastructure beneficiary. Analysts and financial publications point to rising demand for optical networking equipment as data centers expand to support artificial intelligence workloads. Lumentum is positioned across the optics and networking portions of that buildout. Beyond Chipmakers: 4 Stocks to Buy That Power AI Data Center Expansion
• Positive Sentiment: LITE was added to Zacks’ Rank #1 momentum-stock list. The designation may attract momentum-oriented investors and reinforces the stock’s strong recent performance. Best Momentum Stocks to Buy for August 21st
• Neutral Sentiment: A report on data-center construction emphasized the enormous fiber requirements of new AI facilities, a potential long-term demand driver for optical-component suppliers such as Lumentum. However, the article provided limited company-specific financial updates. A Single Meta Data Center Will Require “8 Million Miles of Fiber”
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation concerns could be limiting further upside. A Seeking Alpha analysis characterized Lumentum as increasingly expensive after its sharp rally. With the shares near their 52-week high and the company still reporting a negative net margin, some investors may be taking profits despite the favorable growth outlook. Lumentum: It’s Getting Expensive

About Lumentum

Lumentum Holdings Inc, headquartered in San Jose, California, is a leading provider of photonic technologies that enable high-speed optical communication networks and advanced industrial applications. The company designs and manufactures a broad range of lasers, optical modules and subsystems tailored to the evolving requirements of telecommunications carriers, cloud data centers and enterprise networking.

Its core product portfolio includes tunable and fixed-wavelength laser transmitters, coherent optical engines, transceivers for long-haul, metro and data center interconnects, as well as test and measurement instruments.

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This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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