Light & Wonder (NASDAQ:LNW) Stock Price Up 12.2% – Here’s What Happened

Light & Wonder, Inc. (NASDAQ:LNW)’s stock price traded up 12.2% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $92.49 and last traded at $90.4010. 2,583,987 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 152% from the average session volume of 1,026,677 shares. The stock had previously closed at $80.56.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LNW. Wall Street Zen downgraded Light & Wonder from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Light & Wonder from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Light & Wonder from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $108.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Benchmark dropped their price target on shares of Light & Wonder from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Light & Wonder from $95.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Light & Wonder presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.14.

Light & Wonder Stock Up 10.6%

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $82.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.50. The company has a market cap of $7.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.86, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.77.

Light & Wonder (NASDAQ:LNW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $841.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $866.97 million. Light & Wonder had a net margin of 10.89% and a return on equity of 71.17%. Light & Wonder’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. Research analysts expect that Light & Wonder, Inc. will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Light & Wonder news, Director Timothy Throsby purchased 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $89.37 per share, for a total transaction of $1,787,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 42,082 shares in the company, valued at $3,760,868.34. This represents a 90.57% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Hamish Mclennan purchased 1,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $87.61 per share, for a total transaction of $120,901.80. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 6,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $558,951.80. This represents a 27.60% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Light & Wonder

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LNW. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of Light & Wonder by 198.9% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in shares of Light & Wonder in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Light & Wonder during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Light & Wonder by 118.5% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in Light & Wonder by 41.8% in the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 604 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. 88.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Light & Wonder

Light & Wonder, Inc is a cross-platform global games company, which engages in the development of content and digital markets. It operates through the following segments: Gaming, SciPlay, and iGaming. The Gaming segment includes the design, manufacture, marketing, and distribution of portfolio of gaming products and services.