LightPath Technologies (NASDAQ:LPTH) Shares Up 12.1% – Still a Buy?

LightPath Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPTH)’s stock price was up 12.1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $18.26 and last traded at $18.20. Approximately 2,841,244 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 6% from the average daily volume of 3,017,726 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.24.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on LPTH shares. Wall Street Zen raised LightPath Technologies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on LightPath Technologies from $15.50 to $16.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on LightPath Technologies from $10.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of LightPath Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued 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 stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.13.

LightPath Technologies Trading Down 5.9%

The company has a current ratio of 3.86, a quick ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.16 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $12.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.08.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at LightPath Technologies

In other news, Director Run Strategic Opportunit North sold 165,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.16, for a total value of $2,006,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,990,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,359,761.92. This represents a 5.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 1,390,853 shares of company stock valued at $16,925,923 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 24.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LightPath Technologies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of LightPath Technologies by 118.2% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 556,037 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,577,000 after buying an additional 301,225 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in LightPath Technologies by 707.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,565 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 8,380 shares during the period. Union Square Park Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in LightPath Technologies during the first quarter worth approximately $502,000. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT acquired a new stake in LightPath Technologies during the first quarter worth approximately $535,000. Finally, Granahan Investment Management LLC grew its stake in LightPath Technologies by 14.9% during the first quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC now owns 753,621 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,559,000 after purchasing an additional 97,601 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.