nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Price Target Raised to $39.00

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) had its target price increased by Needham & Company LLC from $32.00 to $39.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, August 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of nLight from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of nLight from $12.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of nLight from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “speculative buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of nLight from $27.50 to $33.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, nLight currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.67.

nLight Stock Up 5.2%

Shares of LASR stock traded up $1.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $35.94. 463,394 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 669,469. The company has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a P/E ratio of -40.70 and a beta of 2.48. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 4.41 and a current ratio of 5.63. nLight has a fifty-two week low of $6.20 and a fifty-two week high of $38.62.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.15. The company had revenue of $61.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.24 million. nLight had a negative return on equity of 17.18% and a negative net margin of 19.13%.nLight’s quarterly revenue was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.10) EPS. Research analysts predict that nLight will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at nLight

In other nLight news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 3,588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total value of $106,671.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 265,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,890,877.14. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 62,507 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.99, for a total transaction of $1,937,091.93. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,319,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,866,987.62. This trade represents a 2.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 374,980 shares of company stock valued at $10,650,501. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On nLight

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LASR. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in nLight by 1.6% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 22,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $661,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of nLight by 12.9% in the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 4,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of nLight by 4.2% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 17,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,000 after buying an additional 723 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of nLight by 147.6% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 924 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in nLight by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170 shares during the period. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.