nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $58.3125.

A number of research firms have recently commented on LASR. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on nLight in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on nLight in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on nLight from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on nLight from $44.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised nLight to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th.

nLight Stock Down 7.2%

nLight stock opened at $65.76 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -139.91 and a beta of 2.27. nLight has a 52 week low of $6.20 and a 52 week high of $72.90. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $54.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.40.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.03. The company 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 9.28% and a negative net margin of 8.98%.nLight’s revenue for the quarter was up 71.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.30) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that nLight will post -1.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at nLight

In other nLight news, CAO James Nias sold 3,249 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total transaction of $201,308.04. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 95,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,930,005.72. This trade represents a 3.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 13,038 shares of nLight stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total transaction of $807,834.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 183,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,350,204.56. This trade represents a 6.64% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 162,528 shares of company stock valued at $9,223,597. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On nLight

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LASR. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of nLight by 4.4% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $214,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in nLight by 622.7% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 77,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $600,000 after purchasing an additional 66,518 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in nLight by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,215,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,925,000 after purchasing an additional 68,436 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its stake in nLight by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 59,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 3,814 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in nLight by 15.8% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 29,053 shares of the company’s stock worth $572,000 after purchasing an additional 3,957 shares during the last quarter. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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. 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.