30,573 Shares in nLight $LASR Purchased by CenterBook Partners LP

CenterBook Partners LP acquired a new position in nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 30,573 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,147,000. CenterBook Partners LP owned approximately 0.06% of nLight at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of nLight by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,989,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,166,000 after purchasing an additional 125,446 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of nLight by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,234,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,320,000 after purchasing an additional 20,043 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of nLight by 377.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,057,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,327,000 after purchasing an additional 835,720 shares in the last quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of nLight during the 3rd quarter worth about $22,809,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of nLight by 119.4% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 755,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,393,000 after purchasing an additional 411,360 shares in the last quarter. 83.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at nLight

In other nLight news, CAO James Nias sold 940 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.99, for a total value of $73,310.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 97,621 shares in the company, valued at $7,613,461.79. This represents a 0.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 16,089 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total value of $1,200,239.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,185,039 shares in the company, valued at $163,003,909.40. This trade represents a 0.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 quarter, insiders have sold 397,682 shares of company stock valued at $28,787,852. 3.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LASR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, April 24th. William Blair assumed coverage on nLight in a research note on Friday, March 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on nLight in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on nLight from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.06.

nLight Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:LASR opened at $62.70 on Thursday. nLight has a 1-year low of $16.87 and a 1-year high of $86.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a PE ratio of -208.99 and a beta of 2.31. The business’s 50 day moving average is $70.44 and its 200-day moving average is $56.03.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $80.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.14 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.04) EPS. nLight’s revenue for the quarter was up 55.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that nLight will post -0.17 EPS for the current year.

nLight 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.