Lumentum Holdings Inc. $LITE Stock: Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Boosts Stake

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its stake in shares of Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LITE) by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,761 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 974 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Lumentum were worth $4,624,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in shares of Lumentum during the second quarter valued at $1,621,396,000. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Lumentum by 188.7% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 658,427 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $564,970,000 after purchasing an additional 430,355 shares in the last quarter. WT Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Lumentum in the 2nd quarter valued at $494,688,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Lumentum by 163.2% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 567,182 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $398,590,000 after purchasing an additional 351,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Lumentum in the 2nd quarter worth about $376,539,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.05% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Yuen Wupen sold 307 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $945.00, for a total transaction of $290,115.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 108,320 shares in the company, valued at $102,362,400. This represents a 0.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Wajid Ali sold 24,542 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $78,715,089. This represents a 24.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 94,496 shares of company stock valued at $85,978,498. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Recent Lumentum Headlines

Here are a few of the latest headlines about LITE:

• Negative Sentiment: UBS issued a pessimistic forecast for Lumentum, signaling a cautious outlook from the firm. UBS Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Lumentum
• Negative Sentiment: An analyst downgrade was associated with a decline in Lumentum shares, adding pressure alongside the cautious UBS outlook. Lumentum Stock Falls 1.8% on Analyst Downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Initial investor reaction to Marvell’s proposed acquisition was described as lukewarm, and Lumentum shares slipped in premarket trading. Skepticism about the large deal may be limiting enthusiasm for the transaction. Lumentum Slips on Deal Reaction

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LITE. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Lumentum in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Lumentum from $635.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $806.00 price target on shares of Lumentum in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Lumentum from $1,100.00 to $950.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Lumentum from $820.00 to $685.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lumentum presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,053.17.

Lumentum Trading Down 3.6%

Shares of LITE opened at $624.65 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $872.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $806.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.61. Lumentum Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $215.35 and a 52-week high of $1,143.00. The company has a market cap of $56.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.94 and a beta of 1.64.

Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $1.26 billion for 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 business’s revenue was up 136.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Lumentum Holdings Inc. will post 19.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.