nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $74.72 and last traded at $74.6160, with a volume of 205915 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $71.34.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on nLight from $44.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Robert W. Baird started coverage on nLight in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on nLight from $40.00 to $62.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target (up from $68.00) on shares of nLight in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.19.

nLight Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -157.23 and a beta of 2.27.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.03. nLight had a negative return on equity of 9.28% and a negative net margin of 8.98%.The firm had revenue of $81.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $76.71 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.30) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 71.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that nLight will post -0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at nLight

In other news, CAO James Nias sold 3,249 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total transaction of $201,308.04. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 95,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,930,005.72. This represents a 3.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Raymond A. Link sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.79, for a total transaction of $627,900.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 92,576 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,847.04. This trade represents a 9.75% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 130,780 shares of company stock worth $8,032,729 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On nLight

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of nLight by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,989,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,166,000 after purchasing an additional 125,446 shares in the last quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of nLight by 3.6% during the 4th 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. boosted its position in shares of nLight by 32.3% during the 4th 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. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of nLight by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,234,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,320,000 after purchasing an additional 20,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new position in shares of nLight during the 4th quarter worth about $41,315,000. Institutional investors own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

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.