nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation, eight have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $87.9375.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. 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. Zacks Research lowered nLight from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of nLight from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th.

nLight Price Performance

NASDAQ:LASR opened at $40.37 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $56.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.95. The stock has a market cap of $2.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -161.48 and a beta of 2.30. nLight has a 1-year low of $27.22 and a 1-year high of $86.95.

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

Insider Activity at nLight

In other news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 181,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.88, for a total transaction of $8,520,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,185,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,434,628.32. This trade represents a 7.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director William Gossman sold 15,000 shares of nLight stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.36, for a total value of $665,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 100,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,447,134.36. This trade represents a 13.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 612,245 shares of company stock valued at $26,828,615 in the last 90 days. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of nLight

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in nLight by 1,599.1% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 1,727 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position 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 valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. Wexford Capital LP bought a new position in nLight during the third quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in nLight by 7,871.4% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.88% 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.