Castleark Management LLC Buys New Stake in nLight $LASR

Castleark Management LLC bought a new position in shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 58,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,045,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of nLight in the 1st quarter valued at about $52,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in nLight by 7,142.9% in the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of nLight by 155.9% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in shares of nLight by 7,871.4% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in nLight during the second quarter worth about $81,000. 83.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

nLight Price Performance

LASR opened at $43.30 on Wednesday. nLight has a 12-month low of $27.22 and a 12-month high of $86.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.50 billion, a PE ratio of -173.20 and a beta of 2.31. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $62.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.08.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $82.59 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.58 million. nLight had a negative net margin of 4.02% and a negative return on equity of 2.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.06 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that nLight will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LASR. Wall Street Zen cut nLight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of nLight from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of nLight in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group set a $90.00 target price on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, nLight has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.94.

Insider Transactions at nLight

In related news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 3,840 shares of nLight stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.99, for a total value of $299,481.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 173,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,549,358.68. This trade represents a 2.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 181,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.88, for a total value of $8,520,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,185,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,434,628.32. This represents a 7.68% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 479,831 shares of company stock valued at $25,378,732. Insiders own 3.10% 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.