Lisanti Capital Growth LLC Invests $4.67 Million in nLight $LASR

Lisanti Capital Growth LLC acquired a new stake in nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 67,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,673,000. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC owned about 0.12% of nLight as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LASR. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in nLight by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in nLight by 0.7% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 41,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,384,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in nLight by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in nLight by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $997,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in nLight by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 6,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of nLight from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of nLight from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Craig Hallum boosted their price target on shares of nLight from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group set a $90.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, July 10th. One 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, nLight presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other nLight news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 3,817 shares of nLight stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.90, for a total value of $278,259.30. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 169,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,386,803.50. The trade was a 2.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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, CAO James Nias sold 940 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.99, for a total transaction of $73,310.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 97,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,613,461.79. The trade was a 0.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 116,331 shares of company stock worth $8,834,029 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

nLight Trading Down 4.2%

Shares of NASDAQ LASR opened at $47.88 on Thursday. nLight has a twelve month low of $24.87 and a twelve month high of $86.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $64.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.12. The stock has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -191.52 and a beta of 2.31.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $82.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.58 million. nLight had a negative net margin of 4.02% and a negative return on equity of 2.83%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.06 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that nLight will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

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.