James Nias Sells 1,565 Shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Stock

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) CAO James Nias sold 1,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.82, for a total value of $110,833.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 100,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,124,067.08. The trade was a 1.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

James Nias also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, May 15th, James Nias sold 1,487 shares of nLight stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total value of $111,762.92.
• On Thursday, March 12th, James Nias sold 1,808 shares of nLight stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.42, for a total value of $116,471.36.
• On Thursday, March 5th, James Nias sold 3,249 shares of nLight stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total value of $201,308.04.

nLight Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LASR traded down $1.34 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $69.49. 997,065 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,332,100. nLight has a 12-month low of $12.45 and a 12-month high of $86.95. The firm has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -231.63 and a beta of 2.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $68.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.29.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $80.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.14 million. nLight had a negative return on equity of 4.18% and a negative net margin of 5.08%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 55.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.04) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that nLight will post -0.39 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price target (up from $68.00) on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on nLight from $40.00 to $62.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on nLight from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded nLight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.81.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On nLight

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LASR. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of nLight during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,315,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of nLight by 377.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,057,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,327,000 after buying an additional 835,720 shares during the last quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of nLight during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $22,809,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of nLight by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,864,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,130,000 after buying an additional 747,958 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of nLight by 537.8% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 631,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,711,000 after buying an additional 532,470 shares during the last quarter. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.