Zacks Research Downgrades nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) to Hold

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on LASR. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen cut nLight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. UBS Group set a $90.00 target price on shares of nLight in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, July 17th. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.94.

nLight Stock Down 2.5%

NASDAQ LASR opened at $75.25 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -250.82 and a beta of 2.31. nLight has a twelve month low of $19.45 and a twelve month high of $86.95. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.51.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $80.18 million for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 55.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.04) EPS. Research analysts expect that nLight will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 35,476 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.40, for a total transaction of $2,497,510.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 177,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,501,068.80. This trade represents a 16.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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. Also, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 46,735 shares of nLight stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total value of $3,200,412.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,375,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $162,675,541.12. The trade was a 1.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 391,038 shares of company stock valued at $28,367,419. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of nLight

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of LASR. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in nLight by 1,599.1% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,727 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in nLight by 7,142.9% during the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in nLight by 155.9% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new position in nLight in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Wexford Capital LP acquired a new stake in nLight in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

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.