BlackRock Inc. Takes Position in nLight $LASR

BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 4,879,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,687,000. BlackRock Inc. owned 0.09% of nLight as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of nLight in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,315,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of nLight by 377.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,057,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,327,000 after purchasing an additional 835,720 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of nLight by 537.8% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 631,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,711,000 after purchasing an additional 532,470 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in nLight by 119.4% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 755,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,393,000 after purchasing an additional 411,360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tema ETFs LLC lifted its position in nLight by 84,128.8% during the second quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 394,191 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,444,000 after purchasing an additional 393,723 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at nLight

In other news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 181,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.88, for a total value of $8,520,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,185,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,434,628.32. The trade was a 7.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO James Nias sold 940 shares of nLight stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.99, for a total transaction of $73,310.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 97,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,613,461.79. This represents a 0.95% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 479,831 shares of company stock worth $25,378,732 in the last quarter. 3.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

nLight Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of LASR opened at $43.30 on Wednesday. nLight has a 12-month low of $27.22 and a 12-month high of $86.95. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.08. The stock has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a PE ratio of -173.20 and a beta of 2.31.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.01. nLight had a negative return on equity of 2.83% and a negative net margin of 4.02%.The firm had revenue of $82.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.58 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.06 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that nLight will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of nLight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Craig Hallum raised their price target on shares of nLight from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of nLight from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of nLight from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. One investment 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 given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.94.

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.