nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) CFO Joseph John Corso Sells 20,243 Shares of Stock

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) CFO Joseph John Corso sold 20,243 shares of nLight stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total value of $1,386,240.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 213,048 shares in the company, valued at $14,589,527.04. The trade was a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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.

Joseph John Corso also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, May 20th, Joseph John Corso sold 35,476 shares of nLight stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.40, for a total value of $2,497,510.40.
• On Monday, May 18th, Joseph John Corso sold 19,575 shares of nLight stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.82, for a total transaction of $1,386,301.50.
• On Friday, May 15th, Joseph John Corso sold 18,445 shares of nLight stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total transaction of $1,386,326.20.
• On Friday, March 6th, Joseph John Corso sold 12,290 shares of nLight stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.39, for a total transaction of $742,193.10.
• On Thursday, March 5th, Joseph John Corso sold 13,038 shares of nLight stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total value of $807,834.48.

nLight Trading Up 7.2%

Shares of NASDAQ LASR opened at $76.43 on Friday. nLight has a one year low of $13.38 and a one year high of $86.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -254.76 and a beta of 2.34. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.88.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 EPS 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 business had revenue of $80.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.14 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.04) EPS. nLight’s revenue was up 55.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that nLight will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LASR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on nLight from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of nLight from $40.00 to $62.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.06.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LASR. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of nLight by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,989,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,166,000 after buying an additional 125,446 shares in the last quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in nLight by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC now owns 1,857,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,684,000 after purchasing an additional 65,000 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in nLight by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,399,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,485,000 after acquiring an additional 341,948 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of nLight by 1.7% during the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new position in nLight in the 4th quarter valued at $41,315,000. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting nLight

Here are the key news stories impacting nLight this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investor sentiment remains supported by nLight’s latest quarterly report, which showed EPS of $0.20 versus $0.08 expected and revenue of $80.18 million versus $72.14 million expected. Revenue also rose 55.2% year over year, reinforcing the view that business momentum is improving. Q1 Earnings Highlights: Advanced Energy (NASDAQ:AEIS) Vs The Rest Of The Electronic Components Stocks
• Neutral Sentiment: Several executives sold shares, but the filings indicate the transactions were pre-arranged under Rule 10b5-1 plans and tied to tax withholding on vested equity awards, which makes the selling less concerning than discretionary insider exits.
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Scott H. Keeney sold shares in multiple transactions, and CFO Joseph John Corso and CAO James Nias also sold stock. While insider sales can weigh on sentiment, the disclosed rationale suggests routine portfolio/compensation-related activity rather than a change in business outlook.
• Negative Sentiment: The large amount of insider selling, especially from the CEO and CFO, may create some short-term pressure on LASR shares as traders weigh whether management is taking profits after the recent run-up.

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.