Joseph John Corso Sells 3,817 Shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Stock

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) CFO Joseph John Corso sold 3,817 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.90, for a total value of $278,259.30. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 169,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,386,803.50. The trade was a 2.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available 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.

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

• On Wednesday, June 3rd, Joseph John Corso sold 3,840 shares of nLight stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.99, for a total value of $299,481.60.
• 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 Tuesday, May 19th, Joseph John Corso sold 20,243 shares of nLight stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total value of $1,386,240.64.
• 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 value 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 value of $1,386,326.20.

nLight Stock Performance

nLight stock opened at $65.85 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $70.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -219.49 and a beta of 2.31. nLight has a fifty-two week low of $16.87 and a fifty-two week high of $86.95.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 revenue for the quarter was up 55.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.04) earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that nLight will post -0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in nLight by 22.3% in 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. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in nLight by 0.7% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 41,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,384,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in nLight by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in nLight by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $997,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in nLight by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 6,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on nLight from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on nLight in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a research report on Friday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.06.

nLight News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting nLight this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to view nLight favorably, with the stock carrying an average rating of “Moderate Buy”, which may help support longer-term confidence in the company. nLight Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts
• Neutral Sentiment: CFO Joseph John Corso sold 3,817 shares on June 4 and 3,840 shares on June 3 under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan to cover tax withholding tied to equity vesting, which suggests routine selling rather than a change in outlook. SEC filing for CFO Joseph John Corso sale
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 8,901 shares on June 3 and 16,089 shares on June 4, also through a 10b5-1 plan for tax withholding on vested awards; the company says the trades were planned and do not necessarily signal fundamental weakness. SEC filing for CEO Scott H. Keeney sale
• Neutral Sentiment: Chief Accounting Officer James Nias also sold 940 shares on June 3 under the same type of pre-arranged plan, adding to the near-term insider selling activity. SEC filing for CAO James Nias sale

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.