LightPath Technologies (NASDAQ:LPTH) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

LightPath Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPTH) shares gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $11.18, but opened at $12.16. LightPath Technologies shares last traded at $11.92, with a volume of 273,066 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LPTH has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of LightPath Technologies in a report on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of LightPath Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $16.50 price target on shares of LightPath Technologies in a report on Monday, July 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, LightPath Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.12.

LightPath Technologies Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $752.85 million, a P/E ratio of -23.98 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 3.86, a quick ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

LightPath Technologies (NASDAQ:LPTH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The technology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.02). LightPath Technologies had a negative net margin of 37.38% and a negative return on equity of 15.55%. The firm had revenue of $19.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.04 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that LightPath Technologies, Inc. will post -0.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at LightPath Technologies

In related news, Director Run Strategic Opportunit North sold 3,571,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.00, for a total value of $49,999,600.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,934,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,087,592. This trade represents a 54.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 3,864,452 shares of company stock valued at $53,576,437 in the last quarter. 24.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LPTH. AWM Investment Company Inc. lifted its stake in LightPath Technologies by 40.9% during the fourth quarter. AWM Investment Company Inc. now owns 2,040,110 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $22,033,000 after purchasing an additional 592,500 shares during the last quarter. Tema ETFs LLC raised its holdings in shares of LightPath Technologies by 129,258.4% during the 2nd quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 1,986,945 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,487,000 after buying an additional 1,985,409 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in LightPath Technologies by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,967,566 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $15,603,000 after buying an additional 72,208 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in LightPath Technologies by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,449,642 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $15,656,000 after buying an additional 181,538 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AIGH Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in LightPath Technologies by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. AIGH Capital Management LLC now owns 1,030,738 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,132,000 after buying an additional 130,738 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.29% of the company’s stock.

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.