MYDA Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in nLight $LASR

MYDA Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) by 42.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 239,042 shares of the company’s stock after selling 172,757 shares during the quarter. nLight makes up about 1.7% of MYDA Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. MYDA Advisors LLC’s holdings in nLight were worth $8,966,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. FNY Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in nLight by 6,151.0% in the third quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 41,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,239,000 after purchasing an additional 41,150 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of nLight by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,989,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,166,000 after buying an additional 125,446 shares during the period. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC increased its stake in shares of nLight by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC now owns 103,978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,900,000 after buying an additional 19,435 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of nLight during the fourth quarter valued at $788,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of nLight during the fourth quarter valued at $776,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other nLight news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 35,476 shares of nLight stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.40, for a total value of $2,497,510.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 177,572 shares in the company, valued at $12,501,068.80. The trade was a 16.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 46,735 shares of nLight stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total value of $3,200,412.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,375,519 shares in the company, valued at $162,675,541.12. This trade represents a 1.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 391,038 shares of company stock worth $28,367,419 in the last quarter. 3.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

nLight Price Performance

LASR opened at $69.66 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $70.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.58. nLight has a 1 year low of $16.87 and a 1 year high of $86.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a PE ratio of -232.19 and a beta of 2.31.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.12. nLight had a negative return on equity of 4.18% and a negative net margin of 5.08%.The company had revenue of $80.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.14 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.04) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 55.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that nLight will post -0.17 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LASR has been the topic of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on nLight from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded nLight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, William Blair initiated coverage on nLight in a research note on Friday, March 27th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, nLight presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.06.

nLight 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. 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.