Granahan Investment Management LLC Makes New $10.56 Million Investment in nLight $LASR

Granahan Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 185,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,564,000. Granahan Investment Management LLC owned 0.33% of nLight as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in LASR. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake 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 period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in nLight by 7,142.9% during the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in nLight by 155.9% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 647 shares during the period. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new position in nLight in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Wexford Capital LP purchased a new position in nLight in the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LASR. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target 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. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, May 8th. Craig Hallum boosted their target price on nLight from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, July 17th. Two investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $80.94.

nLight Stock Down 4.1%

LASR opened at $70.02 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -233.39 and a beta of 2.30. nLight has a 52 week low of $18.62 and a 52 week high of $86.95. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.78.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $80.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.14 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.04) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 55.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that nLight will post -0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at nLight

In other news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 16,089 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total value of $1,200,239.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,185,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $163,003,909.40. The trade was a 0.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 3,817 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.90, for a total transaction of $278,259.30. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 169,915 shares in the company, valued at $12,386,803.50. The trade was a 2.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 a total of 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 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.