nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) CEO Scott Keeney Sells 181,750 Shares of Stock

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) CEO Scott Keeney sold 181,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.88, for a total value of $8,520,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,185,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,434,628.32. This represents a 7.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

nLight Stock Down 1.8%

LASR traded down $0.81 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $43.30. 1,653,714 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,462,527. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $62.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.50 billion, a P/E ratio of -173.20 and a beta of 2.31. nLight has a 52-week low of $27.22 and a 52-week high of $86.95.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $82.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $78.58 million. nLight had a negative return on equity of 2.83% and a negative net margin of 4.02%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 33.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.06 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that nLight will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LASR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of nLight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. UBS Group set a $90.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, July 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Craig Hallum increased their price target on shares of nLight from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, nLight currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.94.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On nLight

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LASR. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of nLight by 1,599.1% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,727 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in nLight by 7,142.9% in the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of nLight by 155.9% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares during the period. Wexford Capital LP acquired a new position in nLight during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in shares of nLight by 7,871.4% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102 shares in the last quarter. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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. 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.