nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Upgraded to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on LASR. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of nLight from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of nLight from $44.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of nLight in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research lowered shares of nLight from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, nLight presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.31.

nLight Stock Down 6.3%

NASDAQ:LASR opened at $58.64 on Friday. nLight has a 52 week low of $6.20 and a 52 week high of $69.52. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $48.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a PE ratio of -124.77 and a beta of 2.27.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $81.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $76.71 million. nLight had a negative return on equity of 9.28% and a negative net margin of 8.98%.nLight’s quarterly revenue was up 71.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.30) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that nLight will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 31,748 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.51, for a total transaction of $1,190,867.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,285,020 shares in the company, valued at approximately $85,711,100.20. The trade was a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 66,075 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.32, for a total transaction of $2,399,844.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On nLight

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust purchased a new position in shares of nLight during the 3rd quarter worth $8,626,000. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of nLight by 161,736.7% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 79,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,350,000 after purchasing an additional 79,251 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in nLight by 48,328.6% in the 2nd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,000 after buying an additional 13,532 shares during the period. Harvey Partners LLC lifted its position in nLight by 1.7% in the second quarter. Harvey Partners LLC now owns 2,107,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,473,000 after buying an additional 34,348 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bosun Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in nLight in the second quarter valued at about $599,000. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.