nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Receives $80.94 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) have earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $80.9444.

A number of research analysts recently commented on LASR shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded nLight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Craig Hallum increased their price objective on shares of nLight from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, May 8th.

nLight Price Performance

LASR stock opened at $70.02 on Friday. nLight has a twelve month low of $18.62 and a twelve month high of $86.95. The company has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -233.39 and a beta of 2.30. The business has a fifty day moving average of $69.35 and a 200-day moving average of $62.95.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.12. nLight had a negative return on equity of 4.18% and a negative net margin of 5.08%.The business had revenue of $80.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.14 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.04) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 55.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that nLight will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at nLight

In other nLight news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 46,735 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total value of $3,200,412.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,375,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $162,675,541.12. This trade represents a 1.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 35,476 shares of nLight stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.40, for a total value of $2,497,510.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 177,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,501,068.80. This trade represents a 16.65% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 391,038 shares of company stock valued at $28,367,419. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of nLight

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of nLight by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC now owns 103,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,900,000 after purchasing an additional 19,435 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in nLight by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,989,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,166,000 after acquiring an additional 125,446 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of nLight during the 4th quarter valued at about $788,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of nLight during the 4th quarter valued at about $776,000. Finally, Laurel Oak Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of nLight during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,138,000. 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.