Principal Financial Group Inc. Invests $953,000 in LightPath Technologies, Inc. $LPTH

Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in LightPath Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPTH) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 120,121 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $953,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marathon Capital Management purchased a new stake in LightPath Technologies during the second quarter worth $54,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of LightPath Technologies during the 2nd quarter worth $79,000. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in shares of LightPath Technologies by 92.1% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 60,612 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 29,054 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. acquired a new stake in LightPath Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $134,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in LightPath Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $139,000. 56.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LightPath Technologies Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of LPTH opened at $11.24 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $648.66 million, a PE ratio of -21.62 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s fifty day moving average is $10.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.12. LightPath Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $1.61 and a fifty-two week high of $15.24. The company has a quick ratio of 3.42, a current ratio of 3.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LightPath Technologies news, Director Run Strategic Opportunit North sold 770,321 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.72, for a total transaction of $9,028,162.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,728,968 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,983,504.96. The trade was a 22.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 24.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on LPTH. Wall Street Zen raised shares of LightPath Technologies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. HC Wainwright upped their target price on LightPath Technologies from $10.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group began coverage on LightPath Technologies in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. They set a “buy” rating and a $15.00 price target for the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded LightPath Technologies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Lake Street Capital increased their price objective on LightPath Technologies from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.10.

About LightPath Technologies

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.