nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $67.8125.

LASR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of nLight from $40.00 to $62.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of nLight in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of nLight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling at nLight

In other news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 19,096 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.80, for a total value of $1,122,844.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,210,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $129,949,705.20. The trade was a 0.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO James Nias sold 1,808 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.42, for a total transaction of $116,471.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 93,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,048,973.58. This represents a 1.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 130,780 shares of company stock worth $8,032,729. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of nLight

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LASR. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in nLight by 1,599.1% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,727 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in 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 position in nLight by 155.9% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new stake in nLight during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Wexford Capital LP bought a new stake in nLight during the third quarter worth $41,000. 83.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

nLight Stock Performance

Shares of LASR opened at $75.61 on Friday. nLight has a twelve month low of $12.17 and a twelve month high of $86.95. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $67.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.64. The firm has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -252.02 and a beta of 2.34.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $80.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.14 million. nLight had a negative net margin of 5.08% and a negative return on equity of 4.18%. The business’s revenue was up 55.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.04) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that nLight will post -0.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.