nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Stock Has Average Price Target of $86.50 According to Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on nLight, with nine buy ratings, one strong buy, one hold, and one sell. The average 12-month price target is $86.50.
• nLight shares opened at $37.13 after falling 4.8%, well below their 52-week high of $86.95. The company has a $2.14 billion market capitalization and remains unprofitable, with a negative price-to-earnings ratio.
• Recent quarterly results exceeded expectations, with earnings of $0.15 per share and revenue of $82.59 million, up 33.8% year over year. However, insiders sold 621,149 shares worth approximately $27.2 million during the last quarter.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $86.50.

LASR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded nLight from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of nLight in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on nLight from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Northcoast Research raised nLight from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, Zacks Research cut nLight from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th.

nLight Trading Down 4.8%

LASR stock opened at $37.13 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $39.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.44. The company has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -148.52 and a beta of 2.37. nLight has a 52 week low of $28.05 and a 52 week high of $86.95.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.01. nLight had a negative return on equity of 2.83% and a negative net margin of 4.02%. The firm had revenue of $82.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.06 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 33.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that nLight will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Geoffrey Moore sold 4,452 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.57, for a total transaction of $153,905.64. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 81,265 shares in the company, valued at $2,809,331.05. The trade was a 5.19% decrease in their position. 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. Also, CEO Scott Keeney sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.01, for a total value 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. This represents a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 621,149 shares of company stock worth $27,153,700. Insiders own 3.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of nLight during the 2nd quarter worth about $339,687,000. AWM Investment Company Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of nLight during the 2nd quarter valued at about $65,374,000. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its stake in nLight by 5.1% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 749,079 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,173,000 after acquiring an additional 36,543 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in nLight by 2,995.5% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 406,624 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,309,000 after acquiring an additional 393,488 shares during the period. Finally, Tema ETFs LLC raised its position in nLight by 84,128.8% in the second quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 394,191 shares of the company's stock worth $27,444,000 after purchasing an additional 393,723 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.88% of the company's stock.

nLight Company Profile

nLight, Inc NASDAQ: LASR develops and manufactures semiconductor and fiber lasers for industrial, microfabrication, aerospace and defense, and other specialized applications. Its products are designed to deliver high optical power, precision and reliability for uses such as materials processing, metal cutting and welding, additive manufacturing, and directed-energy systems.

The company offers a range of laser components and systems, including high-power diode lasers, fiber lasers, and related optical and beam-delivery technologies.

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