LightPath Technologies (NASDAQ:LPTH) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

LightPath Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPTH) shares gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $11.52, but opened at $12.14. LightPath Technologies shares last traded at $11.80, with a volume of 466,661 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on LPTH. Wall Street Zen cut shares of LightPath Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of LightPath Technologies in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on LightPath Technologies from $15.50 to $16.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.12.

LightPath Technologies Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $14.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $661.18 million, a PE ratio of -21.06 and a beta of 1.34. 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) last announced its quarterly 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). LightPath Technologies had a negative net margin of 37.38% and a negative return on equity of 15.55%. The company had revenue of $19.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.04 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that LightPath Technologies, Inc. will post -0.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Run Strategic Opportunit North sold 3,571,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.00, for a total value of $49,999,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,934,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,087,592. This represents a 54.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders sold 3,864,452 shares of company stock valued at $53,576,437. 24.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LightPath Technologies

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LPTH. AWM Investment Company Inc. raised its holdings in LightPath Technologies by 40.9% in the fourth quarter. AWM Investment Company Inc. now owns 2,040,110 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $22,033,000 after purchasing an additional 592,500 shares in the last quarter. Tema ETFs LLC grew its position in shares of LightPath Technologies by 129,258.4% in the 2nd quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 1,986,945 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,487,000 after buying an additional 1,985,409 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of LightPath Technologies by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,967,566 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $15,603,000 after acquiring an additional 72,208 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of LightPath Technologies by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,449,642 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $15,656,000 after acquiring an additional 181,538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new position in LightPath Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,445,000. 56.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.