nLight Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:LASR)

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders purchased 13,808 call options on the company. This is an increase of 2,142% compared to the average daily volume of 616 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LASR. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on nLight from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on nLight from $44.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group raised nLight to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of nLight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, nLight has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.00.

nLight Stock Up 5.4%

Shares of LASR stock opened at $57.64 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.91. nLight has a twelve month low of $6.20 and a twelve month high of $60.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 4.36 and a current ratio of 5.63. The company has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -65.50 and a beta of 2.33.

Insider Activity at nLight

In related news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 66,075 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.32, for a total transaction of $2,399,844.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 196,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,126,855.68. The trade was a 25.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 31,748 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,285,020 shares in the company, valued at approximately $85,711,100.20. This represents a 1.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 127,502 shares of company stock valued at $4,622,166. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of nLight

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its stake in nLight by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 357 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of nLight by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of nLight by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $997,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of nLight by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 6,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares during the period. 83.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.