Castleark Management LLC Takes Position in nLight $LASR

Castleark Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 89,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,123,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its position in nLight by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of nLight by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of nLight by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $997,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of nLight by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 6,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of nLight by 155.9% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. 83.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at nLight

In other nLight news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 16,089 shares of nLight stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total transaction of $1,200,239.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,185,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $163,003,909.40. The trade was a 0.73% decrease in their position. 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, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 3,817 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.90, for a total transaction of $278,259.30. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 169,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,386,803.50. This trade represents a 2.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 sold 391,038 shares of company stock worth $28,367,419. 3.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

nLight Trading Down 3.2%

NASDAQ LASR opened at $67.78 on Tuesday. nLight has a 1 year low of $18.62 and a 1 year high of $86.95. The company has a market cap of $3.82 billion, a PE ratio of -225.93 and a beta of 2.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $69.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.16.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $80.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.14 million. nLight had a negative net margin of 5.08% and a negative return on equity of 4.18%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 55.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.04) earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that nLight will post -0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on LASR shares. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of nLight from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Craig Hallum lifted 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. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 price target on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, nLight has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.94.

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.