LightPath Technologies (NASDAQ:LPTH) Trading Up 9.8% – What’s Next?

LightPath Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPTH) shot up 9.8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $11.43 and last traded at $11.38. 393,007 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 3,150,250 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.36.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LPTH. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of LightPath Technologies in a research report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on LightPath Technologies from $15.50 to $16.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded LightPath Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.12.

LightPath Technologies Stock Performance

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 stock has a market capitalization of $767.29 million, a PE ratio of -24.44 and a beta of 1.34. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.69.

LightPath Technologies (NASDAQ:LPTH) last announced its 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). The company had revenue of $19.15 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 million. LightPath Technologies had a negative net margin of 37.38% and a negative return on equity of 15.55%. On average, equities research analysts expect that LightPath Technologies, Inc. will post -0.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Run Strategic Opportunit North sold 3,571,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.00, for a total transaction of $49,999,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,934,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,087,592. The trade was a 54.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold 3,864,452 shares of company stock worth $53,576,437 over the last quarter. 24.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LightPath Technologies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LPTH. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP purchased a new stake in shares of LightPath Technologies in the third quarter worth approximately $82,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new position in LightPath Technologies during the third quarter valued at approximately $84,000. Wexford Capital LP acquired a new position in LightPath Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $88,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in LightPath Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $90,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in LightPath Technologies by 707.2% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,565 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 8,380 shares in the last quarter. 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.