Short Interest in nLIGHT, Inc. (NASDAQ:LASR) Expands By 20.0%

nLIGHT, Inc. (NASDAQ:LASR) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,560,000 shares, a growth of 20.0% from the February 28th total of 1,300,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 427,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.7 days. Currently, 3.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

nLIGHT Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LASR opened at $7.01 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $343.71 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.81 and a beta of 2.24. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $9.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.55. nLIGHT has a 1-year low of $7.01 and a 1-year high of $14.73.

nLIGHT (NASDAQ:LASR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.42) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.21) by ($0.21). The firm had revenue of $47.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $46.62 million. nLIGHT had a negative return on equity of 19.53% and a negative net margin of 24.16%. Equities research analysts anticipate that nLIGHT will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at nLIGHT

In other news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 53,511 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.17, for a total transaction of $437,184.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,267,927 shares in the company, valued at $10,358,963.59. This trade represents a 4.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 6.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On nLIGHT

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LASR. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its stake in shares of nLIGHT by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 2,907 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 935 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of nLIGHT during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of nLIGHT by 3,951.6% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,687 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 3,596 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd raised its position in shares of nLIGHT by 1,637.2% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 4,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 3,913 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in nLIGHT during the third quarter worth approximately $50,000. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LASR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on nLIGHT from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of nLIGHT from $17.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th.

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.