nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Upgraded by Zacks Research to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Zacks Research upgraded shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

LASR has been the subject of several other research reports. William Blair initiated coverage on nLight in a report on Friday, March 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised nLight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $75.50.

nLight Stock Down 9.6%

Shares of LASR opened at $59.01 on Monday. nLight has a twelve month low of $17.84 and a twelve month high of $86.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -196.69 and a beta of 2.30. The company has a 50 day moving average of $70.30 and a 200-day moving average of $60.07.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $80.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.14 million. nLight had a negative net margin of 5.08% and a negative return on equity of 4.18%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 55.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.04) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that nLight will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at nLight

In related news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 35,476 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.40, for a total transaction of $2,497,510.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 177,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,501,068.80. The trade was a 16.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 46,735 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,375,519 shares in the company, valued at $162,675,541.12. The trade was a 1.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders have sold 391,038 shares of company stock valued at $28,367,419 in the last quarter. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On nLight

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 125,446 shares during the period. Needham Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of nLight by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC now owns 1,857,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,684,000 after buying an additional 65,000 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of nLight by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,399,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,485,000 after buying an additional 341,948 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of nLight by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,234,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,320,000 after buying an additional 20,043 shares during the period. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new position in nLight in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,315,000. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.