Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Lowers Stake in nLight $LASR

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC lessened its stake in nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) by 14.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 84,995 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,559 shares during the quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC owned approximately 0.17% of nLight worth $3,188,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LASR. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of nLight by 377.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,057,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,327,000 after buying an additional 835,720 shares in the last quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of nLight in the third quarter worth $22,809,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of nLight by 18.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,864,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,130,000 after buying an additional 747,958 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of nLight by 537.8% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 631,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,711,000 after buying an additional 532,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of nLight by 119.4% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 755,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,393,000 after buying an additional 411,360 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

nLight Stock Performance

Shares of LASR opened at $66.26 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $71.24 and its 200 day moving average is $57.05. nLight has a fifty-two week low of $16.87 and a fifty-two week high of $86.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a PE ratio of -220.86 and a beta of 2.31.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other nLight news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 16,089 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total transaction of $1,200,239.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,185,039 shares in the company, valued at $163,003,909.40. The trade was a 0.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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, CAO James Nias sold 940 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.99, for a total transaction of $73,310.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 97,621 shares in the company, valued at $7,613,461.79. This trade represents a 0.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 391,038 shares of company stock worth $28,367,419. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on LASR. Wall Street Zen raised shares of nLight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of nLight from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of nLight from $40.00 to $62.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of nLight in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, nLight currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.06.

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. 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.