nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Trading Down 8.6% – Should You Sell?

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR)’s stock price dropped 8.6% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $78.00 and last traded at $76.6020. Approximately 252,156 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 1,559,867 shares. The stock had previously closed at $83.81.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LASR shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. William Blair assumed coverage on nLight in a research report on Friday, March 27th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald upped 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. 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective (up from $68.00) on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.81.

nLight Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $66.84 and a 200 day moving average of $49.78. The stock has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a PE ratio of -265.94 and a beta of 2.34.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.12. nLight had a negative return on equity of 4.18% and a negative net margin of 5.08%.The company had revenue of $80.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.14 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.04) EPS. nLight’s revenue for the quarter was up 55.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that nLight will post -0.39 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at nLight

In other nLight news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 32,239 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total transaction of $1,997,528.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,252,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $139,582,310.76. This trade represents a 1.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO James Nias sold 3,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total transaction of $201,308.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 95,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,930,005.72. The trade was a 3.28% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 130,780 shares of company stock valued at $8,032,729. 3.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of nLight

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new position in nLight during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,315,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of nLight by 377.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,057,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,327,000 after acquiring an additional 835,720 shares in the last quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of nLight during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $22,809,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in nLight by 18.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,864,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,130,000 after purchasing an additional 747,958 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in nLight by 537.8% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 631,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,711,000 after purchasing an additional 532,470 shares during the period. 83.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.