nLight $LASR Holdings Lowered by Pinnacle Associates Ltd.

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. decreased its stake in nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) by 19.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 928,350 shares of the company’s stock after selling 225,196 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in nLight were worth $27,507,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in nLight during the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in nLight by 1,599.1% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,727 shares in the last quarter. Militia Capital Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of nLight in the second quarter worth about $71,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of nLight by 213.8% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 3,246 shares during the period. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of nLight by 12.9% in the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 4,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

nLight Price Performance

NASDAQ LASR opened at $58.64 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -124.77 and a beta of 2.27. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.92. nLight has a 52-week low of $6.20 and a 52-week high of $69.52.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 9.28%. The firm’s revenue was up 71.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.30) earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that nLight will post -1.1 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,285,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $85,711,100.20. This trade represents a 1.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 66,075 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owned 196,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,126,855.68. This represents a 25.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LASR shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of nLight from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Roth Mkm raised their price objective 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. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of nLight from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of nLight in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded nLight to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, nLight has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.