nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) in a report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock.

LASR has been the subject of several other research reports. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, February 27th. Zacks Research cut shares of nLight from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of nLight from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Roth Mkm upped their target price 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, Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of nLight to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, nLight currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.31.

nLight Trading Down 9.5%

Shares of nLight stock traded down $6.38 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $60.64. 1,707,061 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,515,203. The stock has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -129.02 and a beta of 2.27. The company has a 50 day moving average of $47.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.36. nLight has a fifty-two week low of $6.20 and a fifty-two week high of $69.52.

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

Insider Activity

In other nLight news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 31,748 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.51, for a total value of $1,190,867.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,285,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $85,711,100.20. This represents a 1.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 66,075 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.32, for a total value of $2,399,844.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 196,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,126,855.68. This represents a 25.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of nLight

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LASR. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its position in nLight by 7,871.4% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 1,102 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of nLight by 7,142.9% in the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of nLight by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,399,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,485,000 after acquiring an additional 341,948 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new position in nLight during the fourth quarter worth about $353,000. Finally, Virtue Capital Management LLC increased its position in nLight by 176.5% during the fourth quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC now owns 30,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,175,000 after acquiring an additional 19,544 shares during the period. 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.