nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) shares gapped up prior to trading on Monday after Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on the stock from $40.00 to $62.50. The stock had previously closed at $56.19, but opened at $67.51. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has an overweight rating on the stock. nLight shares last traded at $63.8030, with a volume of 1,242,222 shares trading hands.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of nLight from $44.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on nLight from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on nLight in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded nLight to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.07.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 31,748 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.51, for a total transaction of $1,190,867.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,285,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $85,711,100.20. This represents a 1.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 66,075 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.32, for a total transaction of $2,399,844.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 196,224 shares in the company, valued at $7,126,855.68. This represents a 25.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 127,502 shares of company stock worth $4,622,166. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of nLight by 7,142.9% in the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in nLight by 155.9% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new stake in nLight in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of nLight by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wexford Capital LP bought a new position in shares of nLight in the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Institutional investors own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

nLight Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -135.72 and a beta of 2.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 4.36 and a current ratio of 5.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $46.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.60.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $81.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $76.71 million. nLight had a negative return on equity of 9.40% and a negative net margin of 8.98%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 71.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.30) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that nLight will post -1.1 EPS for the current 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.