LightPath Technologies (NASDAQ:LPTH) Trading 6.7% Higher - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Shares jumped 6.7% intraday to $12.98 (high $13.52) on Friday, with just 549,678 shares traded—down about 79% from average session volume.
• Analysts are mixed but the consensus is a Moderate Buy with an average target of $12.10; notable actions include Canaccord initiating coverage with a $15 target and Ladenburg upgrading to "strong-buy" while Weiss rates the stock a "sell (D-)."
• Insider selling was substantial—a director sold 302,352 shares (~$3.72M) and insiders sold 2,131,247 shares (~$26.1M) in the last quarter—yet insiders still own 24.8% of the stock and institutions hold 56.29%.

LightPath Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPTH - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 6.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $13.52 and last traded at $12.98. 549,678 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 2,653,341 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.16.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of LightPath Technologies to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on shares of LightPath Technologies in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. They set a "buy" rating and a $15.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of LightPath Technologies in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Lake Street Capital upped their target price on shares of LightPath Technologies from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of LightPath Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $12.10.

LightPath Technologies Stock Up 6.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 3.97 and a quick ratio of 3.42. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $11.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.71. The company has a market capitalization of $747.34 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.90 and a beta of 1.07.

Insider Activity

In other LightPath Technologies news, Director Run Strategic Opportunit North sold 302,352 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.31, for a total value of $3,721,953.12. Following the sale, the director owned 3,283,164 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,415,748.84. This represents a 8.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 2,131,247 shares of company stock valued at $26,122,799 over the last quarter. 24.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of LightPath Technologies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of LightPath Technologies in the third quarter valued at about $953,000. Portolan Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of LightPath Technologies in the third quarter valued at about $12,939,000. HUB Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of LightPath Technologies by 141.0% in the third quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 200,000 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,586,000 after purchasing an additional 117,000 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of LightPath Technologies in the third quarter valued at about $1,322,000. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new stake in shares of LightPath Technologies in the third quarter valued at about $8,445,000. 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.

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.