Bailard Inc. Takes Position in nLight $LASR

Bailard Inc. bought a new stake in nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $266,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,727 shares during the last quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new position in nLight during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Wexford Capital LP bought a new position in nLight during the third quarter valued at about $41,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its position in nLight by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the period. Finally, Militia Capital Partners LP bought a new position in nLight during the second quarter valued at about $71,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

nLight Stock Performance

LASR stock opened at $75.61 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a PE ratio of -252.02 and a beta of 2.34. nLight has a one year low of $12.17 and a one year high of $86.95. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $67.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.64.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 5.08% and a negative return on equity of 4.18%. The business’s revenue was up 55.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.04) earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that nLight will post -0.39 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 13,038 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total value of $807,834.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 183,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,350,204.56. This trade represents a 6.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO James Nias sold 3,249 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total transaction of $201,308.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 95,707 shares in the company, valued at $5,930,005.72. This represents a 3.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 130,780 shares of company stock worth $8,032,729 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on LASR shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. William Blair began coverage on shares of nLight in a research report on Friday, March 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of nLight from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of nLight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, nLight presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.81.

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.