Wall Street Zen Upgrades nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) to “Buy”

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other research firms have also commented on LASR. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on nLight from $33.50 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded nLight to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on nLight in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. Roth Mkm assumed coverage on nLight in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $44.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.43.

nLight Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LASR opened at $45.61 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a PE ratio of -51.83 and a beta of 2.33. nLight has a fifty-two week low of $6.20 and a fifty-two week high of $48.66. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.92. The company has a quick ratio of 4.36, a current ratio of 5.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO James Nias sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $36,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 99,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,985,360. This trade represents a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 66,075 shares of nLight stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.32, for a total transaction of $2,399,844.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 196,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,126,855.68. This represents a 25.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 141,262 shares of company stock worth $5,101,910. 4.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LASR. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in nLight by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 22,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $661,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. grew its stake in nLight by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 4,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of nLight by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 17,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 723 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of nLight by 147.6% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 924 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Burney Co. boosted its holdings in shares of nLight by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 25,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $946,000 after purchasing an additional 968 shares during the period. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.