Stifel Nicolaus Issues Positive Forecast for nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Stock Price

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) had its price objective upped by Stifel Nicolaus from $26.00 to $40.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock.

LASR has been the subject of a number of other reports. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on nLight from $27.50 to $33.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of nLight from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Benchmark upped 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, Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, August 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.67.

nLight Stock Performance

LASR stock traded up $4.37 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $34.16. The stock had a trading volume of 2,389,796 shares, compared to its average volume of 667,848. nLight has a 52 week low of $6.20 and a 52 week high of $36.59. The company has a current ratio of 5.63, a quick ratio of 4.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -38.82 and a beta of 2.48.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.24 million. nLight had a negative net margin of 19.13% and a negative return on equity of 17.18%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.10) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that nLight will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at nLight

In related news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 38,284 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.29, for a total value of $1,083,054.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 273,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,726,508.22. The trade was a 12.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 62,507 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.99, for a total value of $1,937,091.93. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,319,038 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders sold a total of 374,980 shares of company stock worth $10,650,501 over the last 90 days. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in nLight by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 22,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $661,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in nLight by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 4,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in nLight by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 17,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,000 after acquiring an additional 723 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in nLight by 147.6% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 924 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,170 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

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.