nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Receives $80.94 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) have received a consensus rating of “Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $80.9444.

LASR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Needham & Company LLC boosted 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. UBS Group set a $90.00 price target on nLight in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered nLight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Finally, Craig Hallum raised their price objective on nLight from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th.

nLight Stock Up 11.2%

NASDAQ LASR opened at $65.71 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a PE ratio of -219.03 and a beta of 2.30. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $68.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.66. nLight has a 12-month low of $19.40 and a 12-month high of $86.95.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 35,476 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.40, for a total value of $2,497,510.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 177,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,501,068.80. This trade represents a 16.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 46,735 shares of nLight stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total transaction of $3,200,412.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,375,519 shares in the company, valued at $162,675,541.12. This trade represents a 1.93% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 391,038 shares of company stock worth $28,367,419. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LASR. Tema ETFs LLC grew its position in shares of nLight by 84,128.8% in the second quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 394,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,444,000 after purchasing an additional 393,723 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB acquired a new position in shares of nLight during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,100,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in nLight by 263.9% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 50,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,488,000 after purchasing an additional 36,329 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division boosted its stake in nLight by 22.3% during the 2nd quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 19,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,355,000 after purchasing an additional 3,550 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in nLight by 17.3% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 7,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $401,000 after buying an additional 1,036 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

nLight Company Profile

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.