nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. UBS Group set a $90.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 target price on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, April 24th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of nLight from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of nLight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.94.

nLight Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:LASR opened at $75.25 on Tuesday. nLight has a 52-week low of $19.45 and a 52-week high of $86.95. The stock has a market cap of $4.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -250.82 and a beta of 2.31. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $68.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.51.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $80.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.14 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.04) earnings per share. nLight’s revenue for the quarter was up 55.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that nLight will post -0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other nLight news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 46,735 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,375,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $162,675,541.12. This represents a 1.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible 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. Also, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 35,476 shares of the company’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 value of $2,497,510.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 177,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,501,068.80. This represents a 16.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. Insiders sold 391,038 shares of company stock valued at $28,367,419 over the last three months. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of nLight

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in nLight by 1,599.1% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,727 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of nLight by 155.9% during the 4th 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. acquired a new stake in shares of nLight during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Wexford Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of nLight during the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. 83.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.