Vanguard Group Inc. Decreases Stake in nLIGHT, Inc. (NASDAQ:LASR)

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of nLIGHT, Inc. (NASDAQ:LASR) by 20.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,593,169 shares of the company’s stock after selling 901,012 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 7.42% of nLIGHT worth $37,692,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in nLIGHT during the 4th quarter valued at about $102,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of nLIGHT by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 44,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,861 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of nLIGHT by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 90,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $946,000 after purchasing an additional 9,030 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in shares of nLIGHT by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 11,864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP increased its holdings in shares of nLIGHT by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 2,877,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,188,000 after purchasing an additional 144,283 shares during the last quarter. 83.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

nLIGHT Stock Performance

LASR opened at $7.33 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $359.40 million, a PE ratio of -7.12 and a beta of 2.24. nLIGHT, Inc. has a one year low of $6.20 and a one year high of $14.73. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $8.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.35.

nLIGHT (NASDAQ:LASR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.42) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.21) by ($0.21). The business had revenue of $47.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $46.62 million. nLIGHT had a negative return on equity of 19.53% and a negative net margin of 24.16%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that nLIGHT, Inc. will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LASR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on nLIGHT from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of nLIGHT from $17.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other nLIGHT news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 53,511 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.17, for a total transaction of $437,184.87. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,267,927 shares in the company, valued at $10,358,963.59. This represents a 4.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.