Brokerages Set nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Price Target at $40.00

Shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $40.00.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of nLight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of nLight from $33.50 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of nLight to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of nLight from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of nLight in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 31,748 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,285,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $85,711,100.20. This trade represents a 1.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 66,075 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.32, for a total value of $2,399,844.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 196,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,126,855.68. The trade was a 25.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 127,502 shares of company stock worth $4,622,166. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On nLight

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LASR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in 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 buying an additional 125,446 shares during the last quarter. Harvey Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of nLight by 1.7% in the second quarter. Harvey Partners LLC now owns 2,107,348 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,473,000 after buying an additional 34,348 shares during the last quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of nLight by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC now owns 1,857,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,684,000 after acquiring an additional 65,000 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of nLight by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,399,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,485,000 after acquiring an additional 341,948 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AWM Investment Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of nLight by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. AWM Investment Company Inc. now owns 1,344,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,468,000 after acquiring an additional 25,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

More nLight News

Here are the key news stories impacting nLight this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Revenue and estimate beats — several outlets flagged better-than-expected top-line results and/or upside vs. consensus, highlighting revenue strength and improving profitability metrics versus last year. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Raised first-quarter revenue guidance — nLight guided Q1 revenue to $70.0M–$76.0M versus a Street consensus of ~$66.9M, signaling continued top-line momentum and supporting expectations for stronger near-term sales. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call transcript available — management commentary is available for review (useful for parsing GAAP vs. adjusted results, margin drivers, and backlog commentary). Investors should read the call for details behind the guidance and margin outlook. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually large options volume — elevated options activity suggests traders are positioning for continued share movement; this can amplify intraday volatility but is ambiguous on direction. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional buying note — Bleakley Financial opened a new ~\$356k position, a small but positive signal of institutional interest. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Conflicting EPS reports / GAAP miss — some reports show a GAAP EPS miss (MarketBeat noted ($0.08) vs. analyst consensus of $0.11) and negative margins/ROE; the discrepancy with other outlets reporting a positive adjusted EPS suggests investors must sort adjusted vs. GAAP items, which can weigh on sentiment until clarified. Read More.

nLight Stock Up 3.9%

Shares of nLight stock opened at $62.95 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $45.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.27. The company has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -71.53 and a beta of 2.33. The company has a current ratio of 5.63, a quick ratio of 4.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. nLight has a 1 year low of $6.20 and a 1 year high of $62.98.

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.