nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Trading 6.1% Higher – What’s Next?

Shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASRGet Free Report) traded up 6.1% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $68.94 and last traded at $69.71. Approximately 306,116 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 1,467,556 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.69.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LASR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on nLight from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of nLight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, May 8th. Craig Hallum boosted their price target on shares of nLight from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, William Blair began coverage on shares of nLight in a research report on Friday, March 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, nLight currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $80.94.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on LASR

nLight Trading Up 5.4%

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -230.83 and a beta of 2.30. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $70.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.60.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASRGet Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.12. nLight had a negative return on equity of 4.18% and a negative net margin of 5.08%.The business had revenue of $80.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.14 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.04) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 55.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that nLight will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at nLight

In other nLight news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 35,476 shares of nLight stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.40, for a total value of $2,497,510.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 177,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,501,068.80. The trade was a 16.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 46,735 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total transaction of $3,200,412.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,375,519 shares in the company, valued at $162,675,541.12. This represents a 1.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 391,038 shares of company stock worth $28,367,419. 3.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of nLight

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tema ETFs LLC increased its position in nLight by 84,128.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 394,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,444,000 after buying an additional 393,723 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB bought a new position in nLight in the second quarter worth approximately $1,100,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in nLight by 263.9% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 50,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,488,000 after acquiring an additional 36,329 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division grew its stake in nLight by 22.3% in the second quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 19,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,355,000 after acquiring an additional 3,550 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of nLight by 17.3% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 7,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $401,000 after acquiring an additional 1,036 shares in the last quarter. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

nLight Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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