nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $69.0625.

Several research firms have commented on LASR. Wall Street Zen raised shares of nLight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 price target on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, April 24th.

nLight Price Performance

NASDAQ LASR opened at $66.77 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $70.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.55. nLight has a 1 year low of $16.87 and a 1 year high of $86.95. The company has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -222.56 and a beta of 2.31.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.14 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.04) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 55.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that nLight will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at nLight

In other news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 16,089 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total transaction of $1,200,239.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,185,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $163,003,909.40. This represents a 0.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 3,817 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.90, for a total transaction of $278,259.30. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 169,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,386,803.50. The trade was a 2.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 418,250 shares of company stock valued at $30,096,542. 3.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On nLight

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of nLight by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,989,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,166,000 after acquiring an additional 125,446 shares in the last quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of nLight by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC now owns 1,857,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,684,000 after acquiring an additional 65,000 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of nLight by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,399,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,485,000 after acquiring an additional 341,948 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of nLight by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,234,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,320,000 after acquiring an additional 20,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of nLight during the 4th quarter worth about $41,315,000. 83.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.