nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Shares Up 15.4% – Should You Buy?

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR)’s share price traded up 15.4% on Monday. The company traded as high as $43.45 and last traded at $43.86. 1,041,435 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 23% from the average session volume of 1,354,172 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.02.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on LASR. Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on shares of nLight in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Northcoast Research raised nLight from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Zacks Research lowered nLight from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of nLight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, nLight has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.06.

nLight Stock Up 15.4%

The firm has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -189.77 and a beta of 2.46. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $38.48 and a 200-day moving average of $57.21.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $73.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.16 million. nLight had a negative return on equity of 1.09% and a negative net margin of 4.02%. The business’s revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that nLight will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at nLight

In related news, Director Geoffrey Moore sold 4,452 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.57, for a total value of $153,905.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 81,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,809,331.05. This represents a 5.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Joseph Corso sold 3,524 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.49, for a total transaction of $146,210.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 162,200 shares in the company, valued at $6,729,678. This represents a 2.13% 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 have sold a total of 621,149 shares of company stock worth $27,153,700 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On nLight

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in nLight in the second quarter valued at $339,687,000. AWM Investment Company Inc. acquired a new stake in nLight during the 2nd quarter worth about $65,374,000. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its holdings in nLight by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 749,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,173,000 after acquiring an additional 36,543 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in nLight by 743.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 422,295 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,446,000 after acquiring an additional 372,199 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of nLight by 2,995.5% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 406,624 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,309,000 after acquiring an additional 393,488 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

nLight Company Profile

nLIGHT, Inc develops and manufactures lasers and related photonics products for industrial, aerospace and defense applications. Its offerings include high-power semiconductor lasers, fiber lasers and ultrafast lasers, along with components and systems used to deliver and control laser energy.

The company’s products support applications such as materials processing and other industrial tasks, as well as defense technologies including directed-energy systems. nLIGHT serves customers in the United States and international markets.

Founded in 2000, nLIGHT is headquartered in Camas, Washington.