Scott Keeney Sells 8,901 Shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Stock

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) CEO Scott Keeney sold 8,901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.99, for a total transaction of $694,188.99. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,201,128 shares in the company, valued at $171,665,972.72. This trade represents a 0.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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.

nLight Trading Down 12.1%

Shares of NASDAQ LASR traded down $9.04 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $65.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,160,903 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,511,003. nLight has a 12-month low of $16.87 and a 12-month high of $86.95. The firm has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -219.49 and a beta of 2.31. The business’s 50 day moving average is $70.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.03.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 5.08% and a negative return on equity of 4.18%. The company had revenue of $80.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.14 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.04) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 55.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that nLight will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On nLight

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new position in nLight during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,315,000. Invesco Ltd. grew 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 during the period. Portolan Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of nLight during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $22,809,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of nLight by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,864,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,130,000 after purchasing an additional 747,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of nLight by 537.8% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 631,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,711,000 after purchasing an additional 532,470 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LASR shares. William Blair started coverage on nLight in a research note on Friday, March 27th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of nLight from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of nLight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird began coverage on shares of nLight in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, nLight has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.06.

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.