First Washington CORP Has $12.38 Million Position in nLight $LASR

First Washington CORP trimmed its stake in shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) by 44.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 217,051 shares of the company’s stock after selling 171,748 shares during the period. nLight makes up about 3.5% of First Washington CORP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. First Washington CORP’s holdings in nLight were worth $12,376,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in 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. Needham Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of nLight by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC now owns 1,857,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,684,000 after acquiring an additional 65,000 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of nLight by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,399,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,485,000 after acquiring an additional 341,948 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of nLight by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,234,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,320,000 after acquiring an additional 20,043 shares during the period. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new position in nLight in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,315,000. 83.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO James Nias sold 940 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.99, for a total transaction of $73,310.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 97,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,613,461.79. This represents a 0.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 16,089 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total transaction of $1,200,239.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,185,039 shares in the company, valued at $163,003,909.40. This trade represents a 0.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 sold 391,038 shares of company stock worth $28,367,419 over the last ninety days. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

nLight Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LASR opened at $73.00 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $69.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.73. The company has a market capitalization of $4.12 billion, a PE ratio of -243.33 and a beta of 2.30. nLight has a 52 week low of $18.62 and a 52 week high of $86.95.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $80.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.14 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.04) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 55.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that nLight will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, April 24th. Craig Hallum boosted their price target on shares of nLight from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of nLight from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, March 27th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, nLight presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $80.94.

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.