Bank of America Upgrades Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) to Neutral

Key Points

• Bank of America upgraded Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating, with a new price target of $135.00, indicating a potential upside of 12.82% from the current stock price.
• Insider trading activity has seen a significant decrease in ownership, with insiders selling 85,583 shares valued at over $8 million in the last 90 days.
• Lumentum reported strong quarterly earnings, with revenue increasing by 55.9% year-over-year, surpassing analyst expectations with $480.70 million in revenue and $0.88 earnings per share.

Bank of America upgraded shares of Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE - Free Report) from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. Bank of America currently has $135.00 price target on the technology company's stock, up from their previous price target of $78.00.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Lumentum in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Lumentum from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Lumentum from $75.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Lumentum from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Lumentum from $96.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lumentum has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $124.00.

Lumentum Stock Performance

Shares of LITE traded up $1.24 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $115.86. The stock had a trading volume of 3,164,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,960,562. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.82. Lumentum has a one year low of $45.65 and a one year high of $129.98. The firm has a market cap of $8.04 billion, a PE ratio of 503.74 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 4.37, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26.

Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 12th. The technology company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $480.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $465.27 million. Lumentum had a net margin of 1.57% and a negative return on equity of 3.02%. Lumentum's quarterly revenue was up 55.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.06 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lumentum will post 0.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Lumentum

In other Lumentum news, CFO Wajid Ali sold 2,222 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.58, for a total transaction of $185,714.76. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 47,460 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,966,706.80. The trade was a 4.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Vincent Retort sold 22,719 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $2,499,090.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 121,747 shares in the company, valued at $13,392,170. The trade was a 15.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 76,000 shares of company stock valued at $7,260,909. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lumentum

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LITE. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ acquired a new position in shares of Lumentum during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Lumentum by 164.4% during the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 476 shares of the technology company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Lumentum by 103.2% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 512 shares of the technology company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Lumentum by 2,235.3% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 397 shares of the technology company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Lumentum during the second quarter worth $38,000. 94.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.