nLIGHT (NASDAQ:LASR) Shares Up 6.1% – Time to Buy?

nLIGHT, Inc. (NASDAQ:LASR) shot up 6.1% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $18.37 and last traded at $18.36. 590,041 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 53% from the average session volume of 385,411 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.30.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LASR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Craig Hallum upgraded nLIGHT from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $14.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on nLIGHT from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, nLIGHT has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $15.70.

nLIGHT Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $870.13 million, a PE ratio of -17.09 and a beta of 2.02. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $10.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.34.

nLIGHT (NASDAQ:LASR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.17) by $0.13. nLIGHT had a negative net margin of 24.16% and a negative return on equity of 19.53%. The firm had revenue of $51.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.77 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.17) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that nLIGHT, Inc. will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at nLIGHT

In other nLIGHT news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 40,680 shares of nLIGHT stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.07, for a total value of $653,727.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,281,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,594,347.80. The trade was a 3.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 116,853 shares of company stock worth $1,818,727. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On nLIGHT

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LASR. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of nLIGHT by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 159,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,675,000 after buying an additional 15,904 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of nLIGHT in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,976,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of nLIGHT by 72.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 209,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,199,000 after purchasing an additional 87,788 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC raised its stake in nLIGHT by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 946,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,932,000 after acquiring an additional 162,903 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division raised its stake in nLIGHT by 345.1% during the first quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 48,757 shares of the company’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 37,803 shares in the last quarter. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.