nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $69.83 and last traded at $68.50, with a volume of 2937693 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $62.60.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LASR. Zacks Research cut shares of nLight from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of nLight to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of nLight from $40.00 to $62.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut nLight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, nLight currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.31.

nLight Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $51.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a PE ratio of -145.74 and a beta of 2.27.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.14 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 analyst estimates of $76.71 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.30) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 71.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that nLight will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at nLight

In other nLight news, Director Raymond A. Link sold 6,644 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.28, for a total value of $420,432.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 77,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,883,444.16. This trade represents a 7.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO James Nias sold 1,808 shares of nLight stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.42, for a total transaction of $116,471.36. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 93,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,048,973.58. The trade was a 1.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 162,528 shares of company stock worth $9,223,597 over the last three months. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On nLight

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust acquired a new stake in nLight in the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,626,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of nLight by 161,736.7% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 79,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,350,000 after purchasing an additional 79,251 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of nLight by 48,328.6% during the 2nd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 13,532 shares during the last quarter. Harvey Partners LLC increased its position in nLight by 1.7% during the second quarter. Harvey Partners LLC now owns 2,107,348 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,473,000 after purchasing an additional 34,348 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bosun Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of nLight during the 2nd quarter worth $599,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.88% 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.