nLIGHT (NASDAQ:LASR) Trading Up 5.6% – Should You Buy?

nLIGHT, Inc. (NASDAQ:LASR)’s stock price was up 5.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $13.28 and last traded at $13.36. Approximately 170,521 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 50% from the average daily volume of 343,537 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.65.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on LASR shares. Craig Hallum raised nLIGHT from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $14.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of nLIGHT from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $14.90.

nLIGHT Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $690.22 million, a PE ratio of -13.47 and a beta of 2.02. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $8.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.94.

nLIGHT (NASDAQ:LASR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by $0.13. nLIGHT had a negative net margin of 24.16% and a negative return on equity of 19.53%. The business had revenue of $51.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.77 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.17) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that nLIGHT, Inc. will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other nLIGHT news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 53,511 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 1,267,927 shares in the company, valued at $10,358,963.59. The trade was a 4.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On nLIGHT

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of nLIGHT by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 2,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 935 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in nLIGHT during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of nLIGHT by 6,563.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 4,791 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position 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 worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 3,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of nLIGHT in the 4th quarter worth $102,000. 83.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.