Apis Capital Advisors LLC Increases Stake in nLight $LASR

Apis Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) by 736.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 250,800 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 220,800 shares during the period. nLight comprises about 1.6% of Apis Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Apis Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in nLight were worth $9,408,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of nLight by 34.8% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 499,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,736,000 after buying an additional 128,820 shares during the period. Jain Global LLC purchased a new stake in nLight during the 4th quarter valued at about $527,000. Sender Co & Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in nLight during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,811,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in nLight by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $997,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in nLight by 31.5% during the 4th quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 7,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 1,743 shares during the last quarter. 83.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

nLight Trading Down 2.6%

NASDAQ LASR opened at $64.55 on Thursday. nLight has a 12 month low of $16.87 and a 12 month high of $86.95. The stock has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -215.16 and a beta of 2.31. The company’s 50 day moving average is $71.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.26.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $80.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.14 million. nLight had a negative net margin of 5.08% and a negative return on equity of 4.18%. The firm’s revenue was up 55.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.04) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that nLight will post -0.17 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of nLight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, April 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of nLight from $40.00 to $62.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of nLight from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.06.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 16,089 shares of nLight stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were 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. 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 firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 169,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,386,803.50. This trade represents a 2.20% 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 have sold a total of 391,038 shares of company stock worth $28,367,419 over the last quarter. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

nLight 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.