Gabelli Funds LLC Cuts Position in nLight $LASR

Gabelli Funds LLC trimmed its position in shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) by 37.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 33,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 20,000 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in nLight were worth $1,238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bailard Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of nLight during the fourth quarter worth approximately $266,000. Wesbanco Bank Inc. purchased a new position in nLight in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $375,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its stake in nLight by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA purchased a new position in nLight in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $335,000. Finally, Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in nLight in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $229,000. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at nLight

In other nLight news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 35,476 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 177,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,501,068.80. This trade represents a 16.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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, CAO James Nias sold 415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.09, for a total value of $29,502.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 98,561 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,006,701.49. This trade represents a 0.42% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 405,487 shares of company stock valued at $27,566,119. 3.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

nLight Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LASR opened at $78.54 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $68.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.06. nLight has a 1-year low of $13.45 and a 1-year high of $86.95. The company has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a PE ratio of -261.79 and a beta of 2.34.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.14 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.04) earnings per share. nLight’s quarterly revenue was up 55.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that nLight will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

More nLight News

Here are the key news stories impacting nLight this week:

• Positive Sentiment: nLight’s recent quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $0.20 versus $0.08 expected and revenue of $80.18 million versus $72.14 million expected. Revenue also rose 55.2% year over year, reinforcing the view that business momentum remains strong.
• Positive Sentiment: Research coverage has stayed constructive, including reports highlighting nLight as a strong momentum stock and multiple bullish analyst ratings, which can help support investor confidence in LASR.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several executives, including CEO Scott H. Keeney, CFO Joseph John Corso, and CAO James Nias, sold shares recently. The filings say the trades were made under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans and to cover tax withholding on vested equity awards, which makes them less concerning than discretionary selling.
• Negative Sentiment: Even though the insider sales appear routine, the volume of selling from top executives may still weigh on sentiment in the short term as some investors interpret it as profit-taking after a sharp run-up in the share price.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of nLight in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of nLight from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, March 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of nLight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. One 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.