Brokerages Set nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Price Target at $58.31

Shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation, eight have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $58.3125.

LASR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of nLight from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of nLight in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded nLight to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Roth Mkm increased their price target on nLight from $44.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of nLight from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Raymond A. Link sold 6,644 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.28, for a total value of $420,432.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 77,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,883,444.16. This represents a 7.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 12,290 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.39, for a total value of $742,193.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 170,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,320,409.44. The trade was a 6.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 162,528 shares of company stock valued at $9,223,597. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of nLight by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,000 after buying an additional 1,170 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in nLight by 622.7% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 77,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $600,000 after acquiring an additional 66,518 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in nLight by 6.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,215,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,925,000 after acquiring an additional 68,436 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its stake in nLight by 6.9% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 59,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,164,000 after acquiring an additional 3,814 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in nLight by 15.8% in the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 29,053 shares of the company’s stock valued at $572,000 after acquiring an additional 3,957 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

nLight Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LASR opened at $69.95 on Friday. nLight has a 52-week low of $6.20 and a 52-week high of $72.90. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.85. The firm has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -148.83 and a beta of 2.27.

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

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.