Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) Stock Price

Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) had its price target reduced by Morgan Stanley from $83.00 to $81.00 in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on LITE. Barclays raised Lumentum from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $80.00 to $125.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. Susquehanna raised their target price on Lumentum from $80.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Lumentum from $69.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Northland Securities increased their price target on shares of Lumentum from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on Lumentum from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.77.

Lumentum Price Performance

LITE opened at $85.06 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $87.48 and a 200-day moving average of $70.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.87, a current ratio of 5.36 and a quick ratio of 4.04. Lumentum has a 1-year low of $38.28 and a 1-year high of $104.00.

Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The technology company reported ($0.35) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.48). Lumentum had a negative return on equity of 6.79% and a negative net margin of 40.70%. The company had revenue of $336.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $326.94 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.10) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Lumentum will post -0.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Lumentum

In other news, insider Vincent Retort sold 41,710 shares of Lumentum stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.52, for a total value of $3,733,879.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 147,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,205,542.80. This trade represents a 22.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Wajid Ali sold 29,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.06, for a total value of $2,542,188.22. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 56,492 shares in the company, valued at $4,805,209.52. This trade represents a 34.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 101,797 shares of company stock valued at $8,881,428 over the last ninety days. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lumentum

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atom Investors LP bought a new position in shares of Lumentum in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,127,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in Lumentum by 24.7% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 186,600 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,827,000 after acquiring an additional 37,000 shares during the last quarter. West Tower Group LLC acquired a new stake in Lumentum during the 3rd quarter worth $444,000. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lumentum during the 4th quarter valued at $7,052,000. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lumentum by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 4,350 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $365,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. 94.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lumentum Company Profile

Lumentum Holdings Inc manufactures and sells optical and photonic products in the Americas, the Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The company operates through two segments: Optical Communications (OpComms) and Commercial Lasers (Lasers). The OpComms segment offers components, modules, and subsystems that enable the transmission and transport of video, audio, and data over high-capacity fiber optic cables.