nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $69.83 and last traded at $68.50, with a volume of 2937693 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $62.60.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on nLight from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded nLight to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded nLight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of nLight from $44.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, nLight presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.31.

nLight Stock Down 3.7%

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.92. The company has a market cap of $3.82 billion, a PE ratio of -145.83 and a beta of 2.27.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.03. nLight had a negative return on equity of 9.28% and a negative net margin of 8.98%.The business had revenue of $81.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $76.71 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.30) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 71.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that nLight will post -1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at nLight

In related news, Director Raymond A. Link sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.79, for a total transaction of $627,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 92,576 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,847.04. This trade represents a 9.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 32,239 shares of nLight stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total value of $1,997,528.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,252,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $139,582,310.76. This represents a 1.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 162,528 shares of company stock worth $9,223,597 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LASR. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of nLight by 1,599.1% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,727 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in nLight by 7,142.9% during the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in nLight by 155.9% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 647 shares during the period. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new position in shares of nLight in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Wexford Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of nLight in the third quarter worth $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

nLight Company Profile

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.