Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 747,958 Shares of nLight $LASR

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,864,312 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 747,958 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.75% of nLight worth $144,130,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LASR. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in nLight in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,778,000. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust acquired a new stake in nLight in the third quarter valued at $8,626,000. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in nLight by 237.3% during the 2nd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 260,411 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,125,000 after purchasing an additional 183,210 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of nLight by 94.6% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 365,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,185,000 after buying an additional 177,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of nLight by 273.6% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 221,561 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,360,000 after acquiring an additional 162,263 shares during the period. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other nLight news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 31,748 shares of nLight stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $85,711,100.20. The trade was a 1.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 66,075 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 196,224 shares in the company, valued at $7,126,855.68. The trade was a 25.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 113,194 shares of company stock worth $4,138,841 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

nLight Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LASR opened at $63.07 on Wednesday. nLight has a twelve month low of $6.20 and a twelve month high of $68.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $47.41 and its 200-day moving average is $37.15. The company has a quick ratio of 4.36, a current ratio of 5.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -134.19 and a beta of 2.27.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $81.19 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $76.71 million. nLight had a negative net margin of 8.98% and a negative return on equity of 9.40%. The business’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. Sell-side analysts forecast that nLight will post -1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of nLight in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded nLight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 8th. Finally, Zacks Research cut nLight from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.31.

nLight 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.