nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Monday.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on nLight from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of nLight from $44.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird began coverage on shares of nLight in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.31.

nLight Stock Down 7.2%

Shares of NASDAQ LASR opened at $65.76 on Monday. nLight has a 12 month low of $6.20 and a 12 month high of $72.90. The company has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -139.91 and a beta of 2.27. The business’s 50 day moving average is $54.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.56.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $81.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $76.71 million. nLight had a negative net margin of 8.98% and a negative return on equity of 9.28%. The firm’s revenue was up 71.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.30) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that nLight will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 12,290 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.39, for a total value of $742,193.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 170,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,320,409.44. The trade was a 6.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Raymond A. Link sold 6,644 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.28, for a total value of $420,432.32. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 77,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,883,444.16. This represents a 7.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 162,528 shares of company stock worth $9,223,597. 6.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LASR. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in nLight by 1,599.1% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,727 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in nLight by 7,142.9% during the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in nLight by 155.9% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the period. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new position in shares of nLight in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Wexford Capital LP bought a new position in shares of nLight in the third quarter valued at about $41,000. 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. 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.