Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Cuts Stock Position in nLight $LASR

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its holdings in shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) by 38.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,767 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,534 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in nLight were worth $785,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LASR. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of nLight by 7,142.9% during the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in nLight by 155.9% during the 4th 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. purchased a new stake in nLight during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in nLight by 7,871.4% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 1,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of nLight by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

nLight Stock Performance

Shares of nLight stock opened at $63.25 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $70.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.50. The company has a market cap of $3.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -210.83 and a beta of 2.30. nLight has a one year low of $17.84 and a one year high of $86.95.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $80.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.14 million. nLight had a negative net margin of 5.08% and a negative return on equity of 4.18%. nLight’s quarterly revenue was up 55.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.04) earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that nLight will post -0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LASR. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen raised nLight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of nLight from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.50.

Insider Transactions at nLight

In other nLight news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 46,735 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total value of $3,200,412.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,375,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $162,675,541.12. This represents a 1.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 35,476 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.40, for a total transaction of $2,497,510.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 177,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,501,068.80. This trade represents a 16.65% 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. Insiders sold 391,038 shares of company stock worth $28,367,419 in the last ninety days. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.