nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Trading Down 6.6% – Here’s Why

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) fell 6.6% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $52.82 and last traded at $52.4320. 826,344 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average daily volume of 1,441,274 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.15.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on LASR shares. Zacks Research lowered nLight from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on nLight from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 target price on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Craig Hallum upped their target price on shares of nLight from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.94.

nLight Trading Down 3.5%

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.88. The company has a market capitalization of $2.78 billion, a PE ratio of -196.84 and a beta of 2.31.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $82.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.58 million. nLight had a negative return on equity of 3.19% and a negative net margin of 4.02%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 33.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.06 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that nLight will post -0.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at nLight

In other news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 16,089 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,185,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $163,003,909.40. This represents a 0.73% decrease in their position. The transaction 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, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 3,817 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 169,915 shares in the company, valued at $12,386,803.50. This trade represents a 2.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 have sold 391,038 shares of company stock worth $28,367,419 over the last quarter. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LASR. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of nLight by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in nLight by 0.7% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 41,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,384,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in nLight by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in nLight by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $997,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of nLight by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 6,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.