nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Downgraded by Zacks Research to “Hold”

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

LASR has been the subject of several other research reports. Craig Hallum raised their price target on shares of nLight from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group set a $90.00 target price on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of nLight from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, nLight currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.94.

nLight Stock Down 2.5%

NASDAQ LASR opened at $75.25 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.51. nLight has a twelve month low of $19.45 and a twelve month high of $86.95. The company has a market capitalization of $4.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -250.82 and a beta of 2.31.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $80.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.14 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.04) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 55.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that nLight will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO James Nias sold 940 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.99, for a total value of $73,310.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 97,621 shares in the company, valued at $7,613,461.79. This trade represents a 0.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 16,089 shares of nLight stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total transaction of $1,200,239.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,185,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $163,003,909.40. The trade was a 0.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 sold a total of 391,038 shares of company stock worth $28,367,419 over the last quarter. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of nLight by 1,599.1% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,727 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of nLight by 155.9% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of nLight in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Wexford Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of nLight in the 3rd quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.