Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Shares of Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LITE) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday. The stock had previously closed at $648.06, but opened at $592.52. Lumentum shares last traded at $613.1080, with a volume of 1,247,394 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on LITE shares. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price target on shares of Lumentum from $1,300.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Stonex Financial upgraded shares of Lumentum to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 26th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Lumentum from $1,100.00 to $950.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Evercore initiated coverage on shares of Lumentum in a research report on Monday, August 31st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,100.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Lumentum from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,053.17.

Lumentum Stock Down 2.4%

The stock has a market cap of $57.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.01 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.61. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $877.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $805.47.

Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The technology company reported $4.57 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. Lumentum had a negative net margin of 175.82% and a positive return on equity of 28.85%. Lumentum’s revenue for the quarter was up 136.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lumentum Holdings Inc. will post 19.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Lumentum

In other news, insider Yuen Wupen sold 307 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $945.00, for a total transaction of $290,115.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 108,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,362,400. This represents a 0.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Wajid Ali sold 24,542 shares of Lumentum stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,048.50, for a total value of $25,732,287.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 75,074 shares in the company, valued at $78,715,089. This represents a 24.64% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 94,496 shares of company stock worth $85,978,498 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lumentum

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LITE. Burkett Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Lumentum during the third quarter worth $28,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Lumentum in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Signature Equity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Lumentum by 220.0% in the third quarter. Signature Equity Partners LLC now owns 32 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Latitude Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lumentum during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lumentum during the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors own 94.05% of the company’s stock.

About Lumentum

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.