Emerald Advisers LLC Sells 35,203 Shares of nLight $LASR

Emerald Advisers LLC lessened its stake in shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) by 4.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 746,674 shares of the company’s stock after selling 35,203 shares during the period. nLight makes up approximately 1.3% of Emerald Advisers LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Emerald Advisers LLC’s holdings in nLight were worth $42,575,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in nLight by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,989,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,166,000 after acquiring an additional 125,446 shares during the last quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of nLight by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC now owns 1,857,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,684,000 after acquiring an additional 65,000 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of nLight by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,399,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,485,000 after acquiring an additional 341,948 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of nLight by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,234,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,320,000 after purchasing an additional 20,043 shares during the period. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of nLight during the 4th quarter worth about $41,315,000. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LASR. UBS Group set a $90.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Zacks Research raised nLight from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded nLight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on nLight from $80.00 to $90.00 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.94.

nLight Price Performance

LASR stock opened at $69.04 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a PE ratio of -230.13 and a beta of 2.30. nLight has a 12 month low of $17.84 and a 12 month high of $86.95. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $70.38 and its 200 day moving average is $60.94.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.12. The company 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) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that nLight will post -0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other nLight news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 3,817 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.90, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 2.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through 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, CAO James Nias sold 940 shares of nLight stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.99, for a total value of $73,310.60. Following 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. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 391,038 shares of company stock valued at $28,367,419. Corporate insiders own 3.10% 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.