Needham Investment Management LLC Buys 65,000 Shares of nLight $LASR

Needham Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,857,740 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 65,000 shares during the period. nLight comprises about 4.4% of Needham Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Needham Investment Management LLC’s holdings in nLight were worth $69,684,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LASR. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of nLight by 155.9% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of nLight in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in nLight by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. Wexford Capital LP purchased a new position in nLight during the third quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of nLight by 1,599.1% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 1,727 shares during the period. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

nLight Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LASR opened at $69.63 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -232.09 and a beta of 2.31. nLight has a one year low of $16.87 and a one year high of $86.95. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.83.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.04) earnings per share. nLight’s quarterly revenue was up 55.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that nLight will post -0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LASR. Wall Street Zen raised nLight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird began coverage on nLight in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other nLight news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 35,476 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 177,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,501,068.80. This represents a 16.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 46,735 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were 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 $162,675,541.12. This represents a 1.93% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 391,038 shares of company stock valued at $28,367,419. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.