10,000 Shares in nLight $LASR Bought by Union Square Park Capital Management LLC

Union Square Park Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $570,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LASR. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of nLight by 1,599.1% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,727 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its stake in nLight by 7,142.9% in the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in nLight by 155.9% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new position in shares of nLight in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Wexford Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of nLight in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO James Nias sold 940 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.99, for a total value of $73,310.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 97,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,613,461.79. This trade represents a 0.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 3,817 shares of nLight stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 169,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,386,803.50. This represents a 2.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 391,038 shares of company stock valued at $28,367,419. 3.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LASR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group set a $90.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, July 10th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Craig Hallum boosted their price target on nLight from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Zacks Research raised nLight from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, nLight has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $80.94.

nLight Stock Down 4.1%

Shares of nLight stock opened at $70.02 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -233.39 and a beta of 2.30. nLight has a 12-month low of $18.62 and a 12-month high of $86.95. The business’s 50 day moving average is $69.35 and its 200-day moving average is $62.78.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last released 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. nLight had a negative net margin of 5.08% and a negative return on equity of 4.18%. The business had revenue of $80.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.14 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.04) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 55.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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.