Joseph John Corso Sells 12,290 Shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Stock

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) CFO Joseph John Corso sold 12,290 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.39, for a total transaction of $742,193.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 170,896 shares in the company, valued at $10,320,409.44. This trade represents a 6.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

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

• On Thursday, March 5th, Joseph John Corso sold 13,038 shares of nLight stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total transaction of $807,834.48.
• On Monday, December 15th, Joseph John Corso sold 66,075 shares of nLight stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.32, for a total transaction of $2,399,844.00.

nLight Stock Performance

Shares of LASR opened at $63.79 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $49.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.41. The company has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -135.72 and a beta of 2.27. nLight has a fifty-two week low of $6.20 and a fifty-two week high of $69.52.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $81.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $76.71 million. nLight had a negative return on equity of 9.28% and a negative net margin of 8.98%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 71.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.30) EPS. Analysts forecast that nLight will post -1.1 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On nLight

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in nLight by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,989,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,166,000 after purchasing an additional 125,446 shares in the last quarter. Harvey Partners LLC grew its position in shares of nLight by 1.7% in the second quarter. Harvey Partners LLC now owns 2,107,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,473,000 after purchasing an additional 34,348 shares during the period. Needham Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of nLight by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC now owns 1,857,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,684,000 after purchasing an additional 65,000 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 341,948 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AWM Investment Company Inc. raised its position in shares of nLight by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. AWM Investment Company Inc. now owns 1,344,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,468,000 after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares during the last quarter. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting nLight

Here are the key news stories impacting nLight this week:

• Positive Sentiment: nLIGHT showcased its laser weapon systems to military buyers in Hawaii, fueling defense-demand hopes and fresh retail/tech-momentum buying interest that helped lift the stock. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are still reacting to the Feb. 26 quarter: revenue jumped ~71% YoY and EPS beat consensus, supporting a re-rating of the company’s growth outlook and providing fundamental backing for the rally. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage is mixed: several firms have raised targets and issued Buy/Outperform ratings, but the consensus price target (~$58) sits below the current trading level, leaving room for debate on valuation and near-term upside. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Scott Keeney sold large blocks of stock on March 5–6 (totaling tens of thousands of shares), which the market can interpret as profit-taking at current highs and may keep pressure on the share price if other insiders follow. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: CFO Joseph John Corso sold over 25,000 shares across March 5–6, trimming a meaningful portion of his stake and increasing scrutiny on insider selling patterns. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: CAO James Nias also sold shares (3,249), consistent with the broader cluster of insider sales reported the same week. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Hedge fund Divisar materially reduced its position (~287k shares, estimated ~$9.6M), signaling institutional profit-taking or reallocation that could weigh on the stock if others follow suit. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: A Seeking Alpha piece cautions that nLIGHT may be trading at a high valuation relative to fundamentals, warning investors that the stock could be a “dangerous premium” trade despite the growth story. Read More.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. 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 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on nLight from $40.00 to $62.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on nLight from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded nLight to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.31.

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.