Scott Keeney Sells 41,373 Shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Stock

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) CEO Scott Keeney sold 41,373 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.64, for a total transaction of $3,253,572.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,251,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $177,050,096. This represents a 1.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

nLight Stock Up 8.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:LASR opened at $76.36 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -254.52 and a beta of 2.31. The company’s fifty day moving average is $69.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.09. nLight has a 12-month low of $15.35 and a 12-month high of $86.95.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $80.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.14 million. nLight had a negative return on equity of 4.18% and a negative net margin of 5.08%.nLight’s revenue for the quarter was up 55.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.04) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that nLight will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On nLight

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of nLight in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,315,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in nLight by 377.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,057,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,327,000 after acquiring an additional 835,720 shares during the last quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in nLight in the third quarter valued at approximately $22,809,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in nLight by 18.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,864,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,130,000 after acquiring an additional 747,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in nLight by 537.8% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 631,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,711,000 after acquiring an additional 532,470 shares in the last quarter. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of nLight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of nLight from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. William Blair began coverage on shares of nLight in a research report on Friday, March 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.06.

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.