LightPath Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPTH) Short Interest Up 20.0% in April

LightPath Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPTH) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 4,075,766 shares, a growth of 20.0% from the March 31st total of 3,397,858 shares. Approximately 9.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,113,914 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group started coverage on LightPath Technologies in a report on Thursday, January 29th. They set a “buy” rating and a $15.00 price target on the stock. Lake Street Capital upped their price target on LightPath Technologies from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of LightPath Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on LightPath Technologies from $10.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered LightPath Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LightPath Technologies news, Director Run Strategic Opportunit North sold 302,352 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.31, for a total transaction of $3,721,953.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,283,164 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,415,748.84. This represents a 8.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,131,247 shares of company stock worth $26,122,799. Corporate insiders own 24.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of LightPath Technologies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP purchased a new stake in shares of LightPath Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth about $82,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of LightPath Technologies during the third quarter valued at approximately $84,000. Wexford Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of LightPath Technologies during the third quarter valued at approximately $88,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of LightPath Technologies during the third quarter valued at approximately $90,000. Finally, Granite Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of LightPath Technologies in the third quarter worth $106,000. 56.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

LightPath Technologies Stock Up 6.9%

Shares of LPTH traded up $0.89 on Friday, reaching $13.70. The stock had a trading volume of 2,735,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,857,269. The firm has a market capitalization of $790.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.35 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 3.42 and a current ratio of 3.97. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.35. LightPath Technologies has a 12-month low of $2.21 and a 12-month high of $16.53.

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.