Sanford C. Bernstein Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) Stock

Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) had its price target upped by equities researchers at Sanford C. Bernstein from $635.00 to $700.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the technology company’s stock. Sanford C. Bernstein‘s target price points to a potential upside of 17.14% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on LITE. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Lumentum from $1,200.00 to $1,400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Lumentum in a research report on Monday, August 31st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $1,200.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Lumentum from $1,200.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Lumentum from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Lumentum from $1,165.00 to $1,280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Two equities 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lumentum presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,059.00.

Lumentum Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ LITE opened at $597.56 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $888.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $802.77. Lumentum has a 52-week low of $215.35 and a 52-week high of $1,143.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market cap of $54.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.49 and a beta of 1.64.

Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The technology company reported $4.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.22 by $0.35. Lumentum had a negative net margin of 175.82% and a positive return on equity of 28.85%. The business had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 136.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Lumentum will post 19.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lumentum

In other news, CEO Michael Hurlston sold 548 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $958.66, for a total value of $525,345.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 186,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $179,222,445.66. The trade was a 0.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Wajid Ali sold 24,542 shares of Lumentum stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, 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 worth $85,978,498. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lumentum

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Lumentum in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $805,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Lumentum by 20.9% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 19,309 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $18,754,000 after purchasing an additional 3,334 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Lumentum by 37,050.0% during the third quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 2,229 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,165,000 after buying an additional 2,223 shares in the last quarter. White Pine Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Lumentum during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,017,000. Finally, Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC grew its position in Lumentum by 0.9% in the third quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 7,570 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,352,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. 94.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lumentum Company Profile

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.