nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) CEO Scott Keeney Sells 200,000 Shares of Stock

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) CEO Scott Keeney sold 200,000 shares of nLight stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.11, for a total value of $8,422,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,760,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,115,031.74. The trade was a 10.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

nLight Trading Down 3.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:LASR opened at $43.06 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $38.67 and a 200 day moving average of $57.18. The company has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a PE ratio of -187.22 and a beta of 2.46. nLight has a 12-month low of $28.05 and a 12-month high of $86.95.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.11. nLight had a negative net margin of 4.02% and a negative return on equity of 1.03%. The company had revenue of $73.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.16 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that nLight will post -0.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of nLight

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in nLight in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $339,687,000. AWM Investment Company Inc. bought a new stake in shares of nLight during the second quarter valued at approximately $65,374,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of nLight by 125.1% during the third quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,026,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,991,000 after buying an additional 570,728 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of nLight by 5.1% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 749,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,173,000 after buying an additional 36,543 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of nLight by 2,995.5% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 406,624 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,309,000 after buying an additional 393,488 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LASR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of nLight from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Northcoast Research raised shares of nLight from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on shares of nLight in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered nLight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, nLight currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.06.

nLight Company Profile

nLIGHT, Inc. develops and manufactures lasers and related photonics products for industrial, aerospace and defense applications. Its offerings include high-power semiconductor lasers, fiber lasers and ultrafast lasers, along with components and systems used to deliver and control laser energy. The company’s products support applications such as materials processing and other industrial tasks, as well as defense technologies including directed-energy systems. nLIGHT serves customers in the United States and international markets.