Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Acquires Shares of 388,693 nLight $LASR

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 388,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,061,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned about 0.67% of nLight at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC boosted its stake in shares of nLight by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC now owns 103,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,900,000 after purchasing an additional 19,435 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in nLight by 2.6% in the fourth 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 during the period. Amundi bought a new stake in shares of nLight during the first quarter worth $1,023,000. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC purchased a new stake in nLight in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,740,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in nLight in the fourth quarter worth approximately $788,000. Institutional investors own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at nLight

In related news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 3,817 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.90, for a total value of $278,259.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 169,915 shares in the company, valued at $12,386,803.50. This trade represents a 2.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 16,089 shares of nLight stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total value of $1,200,239.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,185,039 shares in the company, valued at $163,003,909.40. This represents a 0.73% decrease in their position. 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 116,331 shares of company stock worth $8,834,029. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on LASR shares. UBS Group set a $90.00 target price on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, July 10th. Craig Hallum raised their price target on nLight from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of nLight from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.94.

nLight Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LASR opened at $44.11 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a PE ratio of -176.44 and a beta of 2.31. nLight has a fifty-two week low of $27.22 and a fifty-two week high of $86.95.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.01. nLight had a negative net margin of 4.02% and a negative return on equity of 2.83%. The business had revenue of $82.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $78.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.06 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 33.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that nLight will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.