LightPath Technologies (NASDAQ:LPTH) Shares Gap Up - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• LightPath Technologies shares jumped 10.8%, opening at $12.16 versus a prior close of $11.18 and last trading near $11.92.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leans positive: the stock has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $14.12 target price, while Canaccord Genuity set a $16.50 target.
• The company matched quarterly EPS expectations at a loss of $0.02 but exceeded revenue estimates with $19.15 million; meanwhile, insiders sold about 3.86 million shares worth $53.6 million over the past 90 days.

Shares of LightPath Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPTH - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $11.18, but opened at $12.16. LightPath Technologies shares last traded at $11.92, with a volume of 273,066 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LPTH shares. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $16.50 price objective on shares of LightPath Technologies in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of LightPath Technologies in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of LightPath Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $14.12.

LightPath Technologies Stock Up 10.8%

The business's 50 day moving average is $13.62 and its 200 day moving average is $12.64. The company has a market capitalization of $777.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.78 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 3.24 and a current ratio of 3.86.

LightPath Technologies (NASDAQ:LPTH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The technology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $19.15 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.04 million. LightPath Technologies had a negative net margin of 37.38% and a negative return on equity of 15.55%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that LightPath Technologies, Inc. will post -0.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at LightPath Technologies

In related news, Director Run Strategic Opportunit North sold 3,571,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.00, for a total value of $49,999,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,934,828 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $41,087,592. The trade was a 54.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,864,452 shares of company stock valued at $53,576,437. 24.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of LightPath Technologies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in LightPath Technologies by 92.1% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 60,612 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $122,000 after buying an additional 29,054 shares in the last quarter. Mink Brook Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of LightPath Technologies during the second quarter valued at approximately $246,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. purchased a new position in shares of LightPath Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $183,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of LightPath Technologies by 3.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,967,566 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $15,603,000 after acquiring an additional 72,208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of LightPath Technologies in the third quarter worth approximately $90,000. Hedge funds and other 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.

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