nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Stock Price Down 9.1% – What’s Next?

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) shares fell 9.1% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $65.01 and last traded at $64.9550. 398,882 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 1,474,355 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.48.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded nLight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, nLight presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $80.94.

nLight Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of -221.91 and a beta of 2.30. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.16.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.12. nLight had a negative net margin of 5.08% and a negative return on equity of 4.18%. The business had revenue of $80.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.14 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.04) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 55.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that nLight will post -0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 46,735 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,375,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $162,675,541.12. This trade represents a 1.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through 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, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 35,476 shares of nLight stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.40, for a total value of $2,497,510.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 177,572 shares in the company, valued at $12,501,068.80. The trade was a 16.65% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 391,038 shares of company stock worth $28,367,419. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On nLight

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FNY Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in nLight by 6,151.0% in the third quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 41,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,239,000 after acquiring an additional 41,150 shares in the last quarter. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 19,435 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of nLight by 2.6% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of nLight in the 4th quarter worth about $788,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of nLight in the 4th quarter valued at about $776,000. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.