nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Stock Rating Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded nLight (NASDAQ: LASR) from “hold” to “strong buy.” Analysts overall give the stock a “Buy” rating, with an average price target of $82.06.
• nLight beat quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $0.16 versus the $0.05 consensus and revenue of $73.76 million versus $68.16 million. Revenue increased 10.5% year over year.
• LASR opened at $44.48, up 1.1% on the day. Insiders sold 621,149 shares worth about $27.2 million over the past 90 days.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on LASR. Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on shares of nLight in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Northcoast Research raised shares of nLight from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of nLight in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered nLight from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, nLight presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $82.06.

nLight Trading Up 1.1%

LASR stock opened at $44.48 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.18. The company has a market capitalization of $2.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -193.39 and a beta of 2.46. nLight has a twelve month low of $28.05 and a twelve month high of $86.95.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.11. nLight had a negative net margin of 4.02% and a negative return on equity of 1.03%. The firm had revenue of $73.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.16 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.08 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that nLight will post -0.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at nLight

In other nLight news, Director William Gossman sold 15,000 shares of nLight stock in a transaction on Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.36, for a total value of $665,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 100,251 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,447,134.36. The trade was a 13.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.01, for a total transaction of $4,101,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,960,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $80,380,994.34. The trade was a 4.85% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 621,149 shares of company stock worth $27,153,700. 3.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of LASR. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of nLight by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 41,808 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,384,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the period. Krilogy Financial LLC raised its stake in nLight by 9.1% during the third quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 7,633 shares of the company's stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 634 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in nLight by 67.9% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,783 shares of the company's stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 721 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in shares of nLight by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 29,208 shares of the company's stock worth $1,138,000 after purchasing an additional 967 shares during the period. Finally, Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in nLight in the third quarter valued at $39,000. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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