nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Trading Down 6.9% – Here’s Why

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) traded down 6.9% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $66.01 and last traded at $65.1840. Approximately 122,410 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 1,438,232 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.02.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on LASR shares. Zacks Research upgraded nLight from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered nLight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.94.

nLight Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $69.35 and a 200 day moving average of $62.95. The stock has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a PE ratio of -221.60 and a beta of 2.30.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (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 company 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 company posted ($0.04) EPS. nLight’s quarterly revenue was up 55.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that nLight will post -0.17 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 35,476 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 46,735 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total transaction of $3,200,412.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,375,519 shares in the company, valued at $162,675,541.12. The trade was a 1.93% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 391,038 shares of company stock worth $28,367,419 over the last quarter. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of nLight

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LASR. Tema ETFs LLC grew its position in shares of nLight by 84,128.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 394,191 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,444,000 after acquiring an additional 393,723 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB acquired a new stake in shares of nLight during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,100,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in nLight by 263.9% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 50,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,488,000 after purchasing an additional 36,329 shares during the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division boosted its holdings in nLight by 22.3% in the second quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 19,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,355,000 after purchasing an additional 3,550 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in nLight by 17.3% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 7,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 1,036 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

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.