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

Shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the eight brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $32.6667.

LASR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded nLight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of nLight from $26.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of nLight from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of nLight from $33.50 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th.

nLight Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:LASR opened at $37.80 on Thursday. nLight has a 12 month low of $6.20 and a 12 month high of $38.62. The company has a current ratio of 5.63, a quick ratio of 4.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $32.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.13. The company has a market cap of $1.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -42.95 and a beta of 2.34.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other nLight news, CAO James Nias sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $36,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 99,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,985,360. This trade represents a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 62,507 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.99, for a total value of $1,937,091.93. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,319,038 shares in the company, valued at $71,866,987.62. The trade was a 2.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 121,337 shares of company stock valued at $3,892,167 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On nLight

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LASR. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in nLight by 1.6% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 22,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $661,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in nLight by 12.9% during the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 4,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in nLight by 4.2% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 17,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,000 after buying an additional 723 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of nLight by 147.6% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 924 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of nLight by 45.5% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,091 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.88% 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.