nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) CEO Sells $3,200,412.80 in Stock

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) CEO Scott Keeney sold 46,735 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,375,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $162,675,541.12. This trade represents a 1.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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.

nLight Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LASR opened at $78.54 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $68.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.06. nLight has a 1-year low of $13.45 and a 1-year high of $86.95. The company has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -261.79 and a beta of 2.34.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On nLight

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,727 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in nLight by 7,142.9% in the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new stake in nLight in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Wexford Capital LP purchased a new stake in nLight in the third quarter valued at $41,000. 83.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on LASR. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of nLight from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird began coverage on shares of nLight in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of nLight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 target price on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.06.

nLight News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting nLight this week:

• Positive Sentiment: nLight’s recent quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $0.20 versus $0.08 expected and revenue of $80.18 million versus $72.14 million expected. Revenue also rose 55.2% year over year, reinforcing the view that business momentum remains strong.
• Positive Sentiment: Research coverage has stayed constructive, including reports highlighting nLight as a strong momentum stock and multiple bullish analyst ratings, which can help support investor confidence in LASR.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several executives, including CEO Scott H. Keeney, CFO Joseph John Corso, and CAO James Nias, sold shares recently. The filings say the trades were made under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans and to cover tax withholding on vested equity awards, which makes them less concerning than discretionary selling.
• Negative Sentiment: Even though the insider sales appear routine, the volume of selling from top executives may still weigh on sentiment in the short term as some investors interpret it as profit-taking after a sharp run-up in the share price.

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.