nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Shares Down 6.9% – What’s Next?

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) dropped 6.9% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $66.01 and last traded at $65.1840. Approximately 122,410 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 1,438,232 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.02.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Craig Hallum raised their price objective on nLight from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of nLight from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.94.

nLight Trading Down 6.6%

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $69.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -210.99 and a beta of 2.30.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.12. nLight had a negative return on equity of 4.18% and a negative net margin of 5.08%.The firm had revenue of $80.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.14 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.04) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 55.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that nLight will post -0.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at nLight

In related news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 3,817 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at $12,386,803.50. This represents a 2.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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, CAO James Nias sold 940 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.99, for a total transaction of $73,310.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 97,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,613,461.79. This trade represents a 0.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 391,038 shares of company stock worth $28,367,419. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. 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 buying an additional 1,727 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in nLight by 7,142.9% during the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in nLight by 155.9% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new position in nLight in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Wexford Capital LP acquired a new position in nLight in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

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.