nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 3,360,047 shares, a growth of 16.2% from the March 31st total of 2,891,460 shares. Currently, 6.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,311,343 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days.

nLight Price Performance

Shares of LASR stock traded up $1.13 on Friday, hitting $70.98. 721,167 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,053,917. The stock has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -151.02 and a beta of 2.34. nLight has a 12 month low of $7.88 and a 12 month high of $80.27. The company has a 50 day moving average of $64.86 and a 200 day moving average of $47.72.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.03. nLight had a negative return on equity of 9.28% and a negative net margin of 8.98%.The firm had revenue of $81.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $76.71 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.30) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 71.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that nLight will post -0.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LASR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on nLight from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on nLight in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on nLight from $40.00 to $62.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 32,239 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total transaction of $1,997,528.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,252,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $139,582,310.76. The trade was a 1.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Raymond A. Link sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.79, for a total value of $627,900.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 92,576 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,847.04. The trade was a 9.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 130,780 shares of company stock worth $8,032,729 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On nLight

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LASR. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of nLight during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,315,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in nLight by 377.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,057,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,327,000 after buying an additional 835,720 shares in the last quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in nLight during the third quarter worth $22,809,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in nLight by 18.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,864,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,130,000 after buying an additional 747,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in nLight by 537.8% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 631,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,711,000 after buying an additional 532,470 shares in the last quarter. 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.