Ieq Capital LLC Makes New Investment in nLight $LASR

Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new stake in nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 34,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,414,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of nLight during the second quarter valued at about $339,687,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of nLight during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,315,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in nLight by 377.2% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in nLight by 537.8% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 631,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,711,000 after buying an additional 532,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of nLight by 119.4% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 755,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,393,000 after purchasing an additional 411,360 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LASR. Zacks Research lowered shares of nLight from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded nLight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Craig Hallum boosted their target price on nLight from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on nLight from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.94.

Insider Activity at nLight

In related news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 3,817 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.90, for a total value of $278,259.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 169,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,386,803.50. This trade represents a 2.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CAO James Nias sold 940 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.99, for a total transaction of $73,310.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 97,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,613,461.79. This trade represents a 0.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 479,831 shares of company stock valued at $25,378,732 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

nLight Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:LASR opened at $43.30 on Wednesday. nLight has a 12 month low of $27.22 and a 12 month high of $86.95. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $62.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.08. The firm has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a P/E ratio of -173.20 and a beta of 2.31.

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

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.