Insider Selling: nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) CFO Sells $807,834.48 in Stock

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) CFO Joseph John Corso sold 13,038 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total transaction of $807,834.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 183,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,350,204.56. This represents a 6.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Joseph John Corso also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, March 6th, Joseph John Corso sold 12,290 shares of nLight stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.39, for a total value of $742,193.10.
• On Monday, December 15th, Joseph John Corso sold 66,075 shares of nLight stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.32, for a total value of $2,399,844.00.

nLight Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LASR opened at $66.49 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $50.33 and its 200 day moving average is $38.61. The firm has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -141.47 and a beta of 2.27. nLight has a 52-week low of $6.20 and a 52-week high of $69.52.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $76.71 million. nLight had a negative net margin of 8.98% and a negative return on equity of 9.28%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 71.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.30) EPS. Equities analysts predict that nLight will post -1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Key nLight News

Here are the key news stories impacting nLight this week:

• Positive Sentiment: nLight reported a Q4 beat: revenue grew ~71% YoY and EPS topped estimates, which supports the rally and higher analyst targets.
• Positive Sentiment: The company showcased laser weapon systems to military buyers in Hawaii, drawing direct defense demand interest that can lift revenue visibility for aerospace & defense programs. Military demo article
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage is mixed but generally bullish on growth — multiple firms raised targets after results (Needham, Cantor Fitzgerald, Baird), leaving consensus at a “Moderate Buy.”
• Neutral Sentiment: Insiders remain large holders overall — CEO Scott Keeney still owns millions of shares, which tempers concerns that sales equal loss of conviction. SEC Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple insider sales by CEO Scott Keeney (several filings: 32,239; 23,656; 19,096 shares across early March) reduce insider ownership slightly and can be viewed negatively by momentum traders. CEO sale filing
• Negative Sentiment: CFO Joseph Corso sold ~25k shares across March 5–6 (reducing his holding by ~6.7%); CAO James Nias also sold — the cluster of senior‑management sales raises governance/near‑term sentiment risk. CFO sale filing
• Negative Sentiment: Hedge fund Divisar reportedly sold ~287k shares (~$9.6M), an institutional profit‑taking move that could pressure the stock if others follow. Divisar sell article
• Negative Sentiment: Macro/valuation critique: a recent Seeking Alpha piece argues LASR is trading at a “dangerous premium,” which may encourage cautious investors to trim positions. Seeking Alpha valuation article

Hedge Funds Weigh In On nLight

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in shares of nLight by 161,736.7% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 79,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,350,000 after buying an additional 79,251 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust purchased a new stake in nLight in the third quarter worth $8,626,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in nLight by 48,328.6% in the second quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 13,532 shares in the last quarter. Harvey Partners LLC increased its position in shares of nLight by 1.7% during 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 period. Finally, Bosun Asset Management LLC bought a new position in nLight in the second quarter worth about $599,000. 83.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised nLight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on nLight in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their target price on nLight from $44.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.31.

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.