Needham & Company LLC Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Stock

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) had its target price hoisted by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $32.00 to $39.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 30.92% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Benchmark raised their target price on nLight from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “speculative buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Zacks Research upgraded nLight from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of nLight from $12.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of nLight from $27.50 to $33.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, August 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $31.58.

nLight Stock Performance

Shares of LASR opened at $29.79 on Friday. nLight has a one year low of $6.20 and a one year high of $33.96. The company has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a PE ratio of -31.36 and a beta of 2.48. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $30.39 and a 200-day moving average of $22.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 5.63 and a quick ratio of 4.41.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.15. nLight had a negative return on equity of 19.12% and a negative net margin of 21.66%.The business had revenue of $61.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.10) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that nLight will post -1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at nLight

In other nLight news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 62,507 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.99, for a total transaction of $1,937,091.93. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,319,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,866,987.62. The trade was a 2.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 3,588 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total value of $106,671.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 265,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,890,877.14. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 374,980 shares of company stock valued at $10,650,501. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of nLight

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of nLight by 1.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 22,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $661,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of nLight by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 4,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of nLight by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 17,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,000 after acquiring an additional 723 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of nLight by 147.6% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 924 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in nLight by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

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.