Insider Selling: nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) CAO Sells $41,707.25 in Stock

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) CAO James Nias sold 1,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.69, for a total value of $41,707.25. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 96,596 shares in the company, valued at $3,930,491.24. This trade represents a 1.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

nLight Stock Down 4.1%

Shares of LASR stock opened at $39.29 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $57.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.12. The firm has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -157.16 and a beta of 2.30. nLight has a 12 month low of $27.22 and a 12 month high of $86.95.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $82.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $78.58 million. nLight had a negative return on equity of 2.83% and a negative net margin of 4.02%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 33.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.06 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that nLight will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LASR. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new stake in nLight in the first quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in nLight by 7,142.9% in the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of nLight by 155.9% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in shares of nLight by 7,871.4% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in shares of nLight during the second quarter worth $81,000. Institutional investors own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on LASR shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of nLight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Craig Hallum increased their price target on nLight from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Zacks Research downgraded nLight from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on nLight from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, nLight has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.94.

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.