Andar Capital Management HK Ltd Invests $5.13 Million in nLight $LASR

Andar Capital Management HK Ltd bought a new stake in shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 90,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,132,000. nLight accounts for 4.4% of Andar Capital Management HK Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LASR. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in nLight by 1,599.1% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,727 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted 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 during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in nLight by 155.9% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new stake in nLight during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Wexford Capital LP acquired a new stake in nLight during the third quarter valued at $41,000. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LASR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of nLight from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. UBS Group set a $90.00 price objective on nLight in a report on Friday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, March 27th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of nLight from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, nLight has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $80.94.

nLight Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LASR opened at $68.31 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $69.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.97. The stock has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a PE ratio of -227.69 and a beta of 2.30. nLight has a one year low of $18.51 and a one year high of $86.95.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $72.14 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.04) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 55.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that nLight will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other nLight news, CAO James Nias sold 940 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.99, for a total transaction of $73,310.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 97,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,613,461.79. This trade represents a 0.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 3,817 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.90, for a total transaction of $278,259.30. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 169,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,386,803.50. The trade was a 2.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 391,038 shares of company stock valued at $28,367,419. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.