JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts Stock Position in nLight $LASR

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 319,314 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 14,724 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.63% of nLight worth $9,461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LASR. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of nLight by 377.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,057,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,327,000 after purchasing an additional 835,720 shares during the last quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of nLight during the third quarter worth about $22,809,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of nLight by 18.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,864,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,130,000 after purchasing an additional 747,958 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in nLight by 537.8% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 631,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,711,000 after purchasing an additional 532,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in nLight by 119.4% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 755,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,393,000 after purchasing an additional 411,360 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

nLight Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LASR opened at $64.32 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a PE ratio of -136.85 and a beta of 2.27. nLight has a fifty-two week low of $6.20 and a fifty-two week high of $74.10. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.95.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $81.19 million for 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%. nLight’s revenue was up 71.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.30) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that nLight will post -1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other nLight news, Director Raymond A. Link sold 6,644 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.28, for a total value of $420,432.32. Following the sale, the director directly owned 77,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,883,444.16. This trade represents a 7.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 12,290 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 170,896 shares in the company, valued at $10,320,409.44. The trade was a 6.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 162,528 shares of company stock worth $9,223,597. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on LASR shares. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on nLight from $44.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on nLight in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird started coverage on nLight in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on nLight from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded nLight to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.31.

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.