Short Interest in Luminar Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAZR) Drops By 18.6%

Luminar Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAZR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,020,000 shares, a decline of 18.6% from the December 31st total of 7,400,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,920,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days. Approximately 23.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on LAZR shares. Craig Hallum dropped their price target on Luminar Technologies from $22.50 to $15.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Luminar Technologies from $11.25 to $7.50 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Luminar Technologies currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $50.06.

Luminar Technologies Price Performance

LAZR stock traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $5.31. The company had a trading volume of 1,732,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,061,017. Luminar Technologies has a 1-year low of $4.93 and a 1-year high of $45.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $6.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.08. The company has a market capitalization of $176.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.40 and a beta of 1.62.

Luminar Technologies (NASDAQ:LAZR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The company reported ($2.40) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($3.30) by $0.90. The firm had revenue of $15.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 million. Luminar Technologies's quarterly revenue was down 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($4.95) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Luminar Technologies will post -14.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Luminar Technologies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Luminar Technologies during the 4th quarter worth $97,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Luminar Technologies during the third quarter worth about $316,000. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Luminar Technologies by 469.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 842,288 shares of the company's stock worth $757,000 after acquiring an additional 694,315 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Luminar Technologies by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,774,934 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,896,000 after purchasing an additional 1,331,067 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Luminar Technologies by 32,352.8% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 162,264 shares of the company's stock valued at $146,000 after purchasing an additional 161,764 shares during the last quarter. 30.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Luminar Technologies

Luminar Technologies, Inc, an automotive technology company, provides sensor technologies and software for passenger cars and commercial trucks in North America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East. It operates in two segments, Autonomy Solutions and Advanced Technologies and Services. The Autonomy Solutions segment designs, manufactures, and sells laser imaging, detection, and ranging sensors or lidars, as well as related perception and autonomy software solutions primarily for original equipment manufacturers in the automobile, commercial vehicle, robo-taxi, and adjacent industries.