nLight $LASR Stock Holdings Trimmed by Pinnacle Associates Ltd.

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) by 19.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 928,350 shares of the company’s stock after selling 225,196 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. owned about 1.83% of nLight worth $27,507,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of nLight by 1,599.1% during 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. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in nLight in the third quarter worth about $49,000. Militia Capital Partners LP bought a new position in nLight in the 2nd quarter valued at about $71,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in nLight by 213.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 3,246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in nLight by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 4,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 561 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on LASR shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of nLight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, February 27th. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of nLight from $44.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on nLight from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on nLight in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, nLight presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.31.

nLight Trading Down 6.3%

Shares of NASDAQ LASR opened at $58.64 on Monday. nLight has a twelve month low of $6.20 and a twelve month high of $69.52. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $48.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.92. The company has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -124.77 and a beta of 2.27.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 66,075 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.32, for a total transaction of $2,399,844.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 196,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,126,855.68. This represents a 25.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 31,748 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.51, for a total value of $1,190,867.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,285,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $85,711,100.20. This trade represents a 1.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 6.10% 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.