nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) CEO Sells $1,122,844.80 in Stock

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) CEO Scott Keeney sold 19,096 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.80, for a total value of $1,122,844.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,210,029 shares in the company, valued at $129,949,705.20. The trade was a 0.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

nLight Price Performance

Shares of LASR traded up $2.70 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $66.49. 1,634,784 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,111,280. nLight has a 52 week low of $6.20 and a 52 week high of $69.52. The company has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a PE ratio of -141.47 and a beta of 2.27. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.61.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last announced its 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. The business had revenue of $81.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $76.71 million. nLight had a negative net margin of 8.98% and a negative return on equity of 9.28%. The firm’s revenue was up 71.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.30) earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that nLight will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on LASR. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of nLight in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of nLight from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of nLight to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Wall Street Zen raised nLight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded nLight from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.31.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On nLight

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LASR. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of nLight by 1,599.1% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in nLight by 155.9% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new position in nLight in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Wexford Capital LP acquired a new position in nLight during the third quarter worth about $41,000. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.