Brokerages Set nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Target Price at $58.31

Shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $60.1875.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, March 27th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of nLight in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of nLight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of nLight in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd.

nLight Stock Performance

NASDAQ LASR opened at $70.43 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $61.74 and a 200-day moving average of $45.40. The stock has a market cap of $3.93 billion, a PE ratio of -149.85 and a beta of 2.27. nLight has a 52-week low of $6.94 and a 52-week high of $74.10.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $81.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $76.71 million. nLight had a negative net margin of 8.98% and a negative return on equity of 9.28%. nLight’s quarterly revenue was up 71.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.30) EPS. As a group, analysts predict that nLight will post -1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at nLight

In related news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 32,239 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total transaction of $1,997,528.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,252,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $139,582,310.76. This trade represents a 1.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Raymond A. Link sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.79, for a total transaction of $627,900.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 92,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,847.04. This represents a 9.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 130,780 shares of company stock valued at $8,032,729 in the last three months. 6.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On nLight

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in nLight by 4.4% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,000 after buying an additional 1,170 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in nLight by 622.7% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 77,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $600,000 after buying an additional 66,518 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in nLight by 8.4% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 75,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,487,000 after buying an additional 5,828 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in nLight by 7.2% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 107,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,114,000 after buying an additional 7,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in nLight during the second quarter worth about $600,000. 83.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.