nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Research Coverage Started at William Blair

William Blair initiated coverage on shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on LASR. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on nLight in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on nLight from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Zacks Research cut nLight from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of nLight from $44.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.31.

nLight Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LASR opened at $64.32 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.95. The company has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a PE ratio of -136.85 and a beta of 2.27. nLight has a 12 month low of $6.20 and a 12 month high of $74.10.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.03. nLight had a negative net margin of 8.98% and a negative return on equity of 9.28%. The business had revenue of $81.19 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $76.71 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.30) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 71.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that nLight will post -1.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at nLight

In related news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 13,038 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total value of $807,834.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 183,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,350,204.56. This represents a 6.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO James Nias sold 3,249 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total value of $201,308.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 95,707 shares in the company, valued at $5,930,005.72. This trade represents a 3.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 162,528 shares of company stock valued at $9,223,597. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On nLight

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 1,170 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in nLight by 622.7% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 77,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $600,000 after acquiring an additional 66,518 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted 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 worth $23,925,000 after acquiring an additional 68,436 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in nLight by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 59,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,164,000 after acquiring an additional 3,814 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in nLight by 15.8% in the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 29,053 shares of the company’s stock valued at $572,000 after acquiring an additional 3,957 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

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.