nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on LASR. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of nLight from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research lowered nLight from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on nLight from $33.50 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Roth Mkm began coverage on nLight in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $44.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, nLight currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.43.

nLight Trading Down 3.2%

nLight stock opened at $45.61 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $39.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.10. The company has a quick ratio of 4.36, a current ratio of 5.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. nLight has a 12 month low of $6.20 and a 12 month high of $48.66. The stock has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -51.83 and a beta of 2.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Raymond A. Link sold 12,560 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.33, for a total transaction of $443,744.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 102,576 shares in the company, valued at $3,624,010.08. This represents a 10.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 31,748 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.51, for a total transaction of $1,190,867.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,285,020 shares in the company, valued at $85,711,100.20. The trade was a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 141,262 shares of company stock worth $5,101,910 in the last three months. Company insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of nLight by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,989,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,166,000 after acquiring an additional 125,446 shares during the last quarter. Harvey Partners LLC raised its holdings in nLight by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Harvey Partners LLC now owns 2,107,348 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,473,000 after purchasing an additional 34,348 shares during the last quarter. AWM Investment Company Inc. raised its holdings in nLight by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. AWM Investment Company Inc. now owns 1,344,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,468,000 after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in nLight by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,215,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,925,000 after purchasing an additional 68,436 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of nLight by 377.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,057,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,327,000 after purchasing an additional 835,720 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

About nLight

nLIGHT, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor and fiber lasers for industrial, microfabrication, and aerospace and defense applications. The company operates in two segments, Laser Products and Advanced Development. It offers semiconductor lasers with various ranges of power levels, wavelengths, and output fiber sizes; and programmable and serviceable fiber lasers for use in industrial and aerospace and defense applications. The company also provides laser sensors, including light detection and ranging technologies for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance applications; and fiber amplifiers, beam combination, and control systems for use in high-energy laser systems in directed energy applications.