Lumentum Holdings Inc. $LITE Stock: Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Boosts Position

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LITE) by 14.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 66,283 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,603 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Lumentum were worth $64,378,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LITE. Burkett Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Lumentum in the third quarter worth $28,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Lumentum during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Signature Equity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lumentum by 220.0% during the third quarter. Signature Equity Partners LLC now owns 32 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lumentum during the second quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Latitude Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lumentum in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors own 94.05% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Lumentum

Here are a few of the latest headlines about LITE:

• Positive Sentiment: An analyst upgrade was followed by a reported 10.7% rise in LITE shares, while Sanford C. Bernstein also increased its price target—potential signs of improved analyst sentiment. Lumentum stock price up following analyst upgrade Sanford C. Bernstein increases price target
• Neutral Sentiment: Marvell, which has proposed acquiring Lumentum, added three independent directors to its board. The move adds governance context to the proposed deal, though the headline does not indicate a change in its terms. Another article frames Marvell as a key reference point for Lumentum’s valuation, but offers no specific deal update. Marvell adds independent directors Marvell and Lumentum valuation
• Negative Sentiment: Bearish signals include a UBS pessimistic forecast and a separate analyst downgrade that was associated with a decline in LITE shares. One report says the stock has fallen about 40% in a month, underscoring the pressure investors may want to see overcome before a recovery toward $1,000. UBS issues pessimistic forecast Lumentum shares fall on analyst downgrade Lumentum’s recent decline and recovery prospects

Lumentum Stock Down 4.5%

LITE traded down $28.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $596.62. 3,646,860 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,441,538. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $867.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $808.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Lumentum Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $215.35 and a 12-month high of $1,143.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.58 and a beta of 1.64.

Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The technology company reported $4.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. Lumentum had a positive return on equity of 28.85% and a negative net margin of 175.82%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 136.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. Analysts predict that Lumentum Holdings Inc. will post 19.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LITE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Lumentum from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Lumentum from $960.00 to $686.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 10th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Lumentum from $1,100.00 to $950.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. B. Riley Financial lowered shares of Lumentum from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $1,142.00 to $770.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised shares of Lumentum from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $1,328.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,053.17.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Wajid Ali sold 24,542 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,048.50, for a total transaction of $25,732,287.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 75,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,715,089. This trade represents a 24.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Michael Hurlston sold 548 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $958.66, for a total value of $525,345.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 186,951 shares in the company, valued at $179,222,445.66. This trade represents a 0.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 94,496 shares of company stock valued at $85,978,498. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Lumentum Profile

Lumentum Holdings Inc. develops and manufactures optical and photonic products used in communications networks and industrial applications. Its offerings include optical components, modules and lasers that help transmit and process data across telecommunications and data center networks. The company also supplies lasers and related technologies for industrial uses, including precision manufacturing and semiconductor production. Its products serve customers in markets around the world. Lumentum became an independent public company in 2015 through a spin-off from JDSU, now Viavi Solutions.