nLight $LASR Shares Sold by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP decreased its stake in nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) by 30.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,328,922 shares of the company’s stock after selling 584,178 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 2.62% of nLight worth $39,376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in shares of nLight by 161,736.7% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 79,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,350,000 after acquiring an additional 79,251 shares during the period. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust purchased a new position in nLight in the 3rd quarter worth about $8,626,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of nLight by 48,328.6% in the second quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,000 after buying an additional 13,532 shares during the period. Harvey Partners LLC increased its position in nLight by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Harvey Partners LLC now owns 2,107,348 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,473,000 after purchasing an additional 34,348 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bosun Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in nLight during the second quarter worth approximately $599,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 31,748 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.51, for a total transaction of $1,190,867.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,285,020 shares in the company, valued at approximately $85,711,100.20. The trade was a 1.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 66,075 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.32, for a total transaction of $2,399,844.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 196,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,126,855.68. The trade was a 25.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 127,502 shares of company stock valued at $4,622,166 in the last three months. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

nLight Price Performance

LASR opened at $56.19 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 5.63, a quick ratio of 4.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -119.55 and a beta of 2.33. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.54. nLight has a 12-month low of $6.20 and a 12-month high of $62.98.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.03. nLight had a negative net margin of 8.98% and a negative return on equity of 9.40%. The business had revenue of $81.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $76.71 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.30) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 71.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that nLight will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Stories Impacting nLight

Here are the key news stories impacting nLight this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Needham raised its price target from $48 to $70 and assigned a “buy” rating, signaling confidence in continued revenue growth and implying ~24.6% upside from the current price. Needham Price Target Raise
• Positive Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald raised its price target to $62.50 and moved to “overweight,” providing additional analyst support for the stock after the quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Price Target Raise
• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results topped expectations: EPS $0.14 vs. $0.11 consensus and revenue $81.2M vs. $76.7M; revenue rose ~71% year?over?year. Management also set Q1 revenue guidance ($70–$76M) above consensus, which supports near?term growth expectations. Q4 Earnings & Guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional interest: Bleakley Financial reported a new stake in nLight, indicating some institutional accumulation. Bleakley Stake
• Positive Sentiment: Management scheduled investor events and conferences in early March, increasing chances for deeper analyst/investor engagement and potentially clearer forward commentary. Investor Events
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually large options volume was reported, suggesting heightened speculative or hedging activity that can amplify intraday moves but is not itself a directional signal. Options Volume Note
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the beat and raised guidance, the stock dropped as investors appeared to take profits after recent gains and reacted to remaining profitability concerns (negative net margin and ROE noted in the report). Several outlets reported the stock “tumbled” after the release. Stock Reaction Coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Heavy intraday volume and elevated volatility accompanied the move lower, which can exacerbate declines and indicates short?term positioning changes rather than a change in underlying fundamentals. Market Reaction & Volume

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LASR has been the topic of several research reports. Zacks Research downgraded nLight from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of nLight to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of nLight from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Roth Mkm raised their target price on nLight from $44.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of nLight from $40.00 to $62.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.07.

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.