LightPath Technologies (NASDAQ:LPTH) Trading 12.1% Higher – Should You Buy?

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on LightPath Technologies from $10.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on LightPath Technologies from $15.50 to $16.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen raised LightPath Technologies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of LightPath Technologies in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. One research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.13.

LightPath Technologies Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.12 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50 day moving average of $12.68 and a 200 day moving average of $10.94. The company has a quick ratio of 3.24, a current ratio of 3.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

LightPath Technologies (NASDAQ:LPTH) last released 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 analyst estimates of $17.04 million. LightPath Technologies had a negative return on equity of 15.55% and a negative net margin of 37.38%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that LightPath Technologies, Inc. will post -0.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Run Strategic Opportunit North sold 381,004 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.18, for a total value of $4,640,628.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,075,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,459,918.86. This represents a 11.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 1,390,853 shares of company stock valued at $16,925,923 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 24.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LightPath Technologies

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in LightPath Technologies by 707.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,565 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 8,380 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in LightPath Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at about $108,000. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP purchased a new stake in LightPath Technologies during the third quarter valued at about $82,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in LightPath Technologies during the third quarter valued at about $84,000. Finally, Wexford Capital LP purchased a new stake in LightPath Technologies during the third quarter valued at about $88,000. 56.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About LightPath Technologies

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.