nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Now Covered by Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) in a report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on LASR. Roth Capital initiated coverage on nLight in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $44.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded nLight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on nLight from $33.50 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded nLight from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.43.

nLight Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of nLight stock opened at $45.25 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 5.63, a quick ratio of 4.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. nLight has a 12-month low of $6.20 and a 12-month high of $47.50. The company has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -51.42 and a beta of 2.33. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 31,748 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.51, for a total transaction of $1,190,867.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,285,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $85,711,100.20. This represents a 1.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Raymond A. Link sold 12,560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.33, for a total transaction of $443,744.80. Following the sale, the director owned 102,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,624,010.08. This represents a 10.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 141,262 shares of company stock valued at $5,101,910. Insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On nLight

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in nLight by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 4,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in nLight by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 17,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 723 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of nLight by 147.6% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 924 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of nLight by 45.5% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.