Scott Keeney Sells 41,373 Shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Stock

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) CEO Scott Keeney sold 41,373 shares of nLight stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.40, for a total value of $2,912,659.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,334,146 shares in the company, valued at $164,323,878.40. This trade represents a 1.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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.

nLight Stock Performance

LASR traded up $5.13 on Thursday, hitting $76.43. The company had a trading volume of 1,031,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,345,495. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -254.76 and a beta of 2.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $68.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.88. nLight has a 12-month low of $13.38 and a 12-month high of $86.95.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $80.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.14 million. nLight had a negative return on equity of 4.18% and a negative net margin of 5.08%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 55.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.04) earnings per share. Analysts forecast that nLight will post -0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On nLight

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of nLight by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of nLight by 0.7% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 41,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,384,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of nLight by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $516,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of nLight by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $997,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in nLight by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 6,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LASR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on nLight from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 target price on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, April 24th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, nLight currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.06.

nLight News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting nLight this week:

• Positive Sentiment: nLight reported strong quarterly results earlier this month, with EPS of $0.20 versus estimates of $0.08 and revenue of $80.18 million versus expectations of $72.14 million. Revenue also rose 55.2% year over year, reinforcing the company’s growth story and helping support the stock.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain broadly constructive, with several firms reiterating or raising buy ratings and price targets, including targets as high as $100. That suggests the market still sees room for more upside in LASR.
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple insider sales were disclosed by CEO Scott H. Keeney, CFO Joseph John Corso, and CAO James Nias. The company said the trades were made under pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans and to cover tax withholding tied to vesting equity awards, which makes them less concerning than discretionary selling.
• Neutral Sentiment: The selling was sizable in dollar terms, especially from the CEO and CFO, so investors may still view it as a sentiment headwind even though the transactions appear routine.

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.