Atika Capital Management LLC Invests $3.76 Million in nLight $LASR

Atika Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 66,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,763,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new position in nLight in the first quarter valued at $52,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in 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 in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 647 shares during the period. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new position in shares of nLight in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its position in shares of nLight by 7,871.4% during the fourth 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. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO James Nias sold 940 shares of nLight stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.99, for a total value of $73,310.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 97,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,613,461.79. The trade was a 0.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 transaction of $1,200,239.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,185,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $163,003,909.40. This trade represents a 0.73% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 391,038 shares of company stock valued at $28,367,419. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on LASR shares. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of nLight from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Zacks Research raised shares of nLight from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. 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. UBS Group set a $90.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Craig Hallum lifted their price objective 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. 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 MarketBeat, nLight presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $80.94.

nLight Stock Performance

Shares of LASR stock opened at $73.00 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $69.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.73. The firm has a market cap of $4.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -243.33 and a beta of 2.30. nLight has a 1 year low of $18.62 and a 1 year high of $86.95.

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

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.