Short Interest in nLIGHT, Inc. (NASDAQ:LASR) Drops By 9.4%

nLIGHT, Inc. (NASDAQ:LASR – Get Rating) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,060,000 shares, a decline of 9.4% from the December 15th total of 1,170,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 242,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.4 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of nLIGHT in a research note on Friday, November 4th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of nLIGHT from $40.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Sunday, November 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on shares of nLIGHT from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $20.75.

nLIGHT Price Performance

NASDAQ:LASR opened at $12.02 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $10.77 and a 200-day moving average of $11.00. The company has a market cap of $544.59 million, a PE ratio of -13.07 and a beta of 2.23. nLIGHT has a one year low of $8.22 and a one year high of $20.93.

nLIGHT (NASDAQ:LASR – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 3rd. The company reported ($0.28) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $60.09 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.04 million. nLIGHT had a negative return on equity of 13.16% and a negative net margin of 16.09%. On average, equities research analysts expect that nLIGHT will post -1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On nLIGHT

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LASR. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in nLIGHT by 20.3% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 134,164 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,326,000 after purchasing an additional 22,631 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its position in nLIGHT by 40.4% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 82,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,434,000 after purchasing an additional 23,813 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in nLIGHT by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,827,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,685,000 after purchasing an additional 14,768 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its position in nLIGHT by 37.6% in the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 64,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,121,000 after purchasing an additional 17,657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in nLIGHT by 56.6% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 23,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $404,000 after purchasing an additional 8,409 shares in the last quarter. 86.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

nLIGHT Company Profile

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nLIGHT, Inc develops and manufactures semiconductor and fiber lasers components. Its products include semiconductor lasers, fiber lasers and optical fibers. It operates through the following segments: Laser Products and Advanced Development. The Laser Products segment includes products such as fiber lasers, diodes, complete laser systems and components.