Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Invests $833,000 in nLight $LASR

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 14,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $833,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in nLight by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in nLight by 622.7% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 77,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $600,000 after buying an additional 66,518 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of nLight by 8.4% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 75,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,487,000 after buying an additional 5,828 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of nLight by 7.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 107,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,114,000 after buying an additional 7,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in shares of nLight in the second quarter worth approximately $600,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on LASR shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of nLight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. William Blair assumed coverage on nLight in a report on Friday, March 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Craig Hallum boosted their price target on nLight from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, nLight currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $80.94.

nLight Stock Down 4.2%

Shares of NASDAQ LASR opened at $69.04 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $70.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.94. nLight has a 52-week low of $17.84 and a 52-week high of $86.95. The company has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a PE ratio of -230.13 and a beta of 2.30.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $80.18 million during 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 quarterly revenue was up 55.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.04) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that nLight will post -0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 16,089 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total transaction of $1,200,239.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,185,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $163,003,909.40. This represents a 0.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing 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, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 3,817 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.90, for a total value of $278,259.30. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 169,915 shares in the company, valued at $12,386,803.50. The trade was a 2.20% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders sold 391,038 shares of company stock valued at $28,367,419. Company 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.