nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) CFO Joseph John Corso Sells 19,575 Shares

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) CFO Joseph John Corso sold 19,575 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.82, for a total transaction of $1,386,301.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 233,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,521,668.62. This trade represents a 7.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Joseph John Corso also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, May 15th, Joseph John Corso sold 18,445 shares of nLight stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total transaction of $1,386,326.20.
• On Friday, March 6th, Joseph John Corso sold 12,290 shares of nLight stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.39, for a total transaction of $742,193.10.
• On Thursday, March 5th, Joseph John Corso sold 13,038 shares of nLight stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total transaction of $807,834.48.

nLight Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of nLight stock opened at $69.49 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a PE ratio of -231.63 and a beta of 2.34. nLight has a 12-month low of $12.45 and a 12-month high of $86.95. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.29.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $80.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.14 million. nLight had a negative net margin of 5.08% and a negative return on equity of 4.18%. The company’s revenue was up 55.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.04) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that nLight will post -0.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On nLight

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LASR. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new position in nLight in the fourth quarter worth about $41,315,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in nLight by 377.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,057,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,327,000 after acquiring an additional 835,720 shares during the period. Portolan Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in nLight during the 3rd quarter valued at about $22,809,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in nLight by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,864,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,130,000 after acquiring an additional 747,958 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in nLight by 537.8% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 631,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,711,000 after acquiring an additional 532,470 shares during the period. 83.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LASR. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, May 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of nLight from $40.00 to $62.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price target (up from $68.00) on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of nLight from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of nLight in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.81.

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.