132,726 Shares in nLight $LASR Acquired by Pier Capital LLC

Key Points

• Pier Capital LLC established a new position in nLight (NASDAQ:LASR), buying 132,726 shares worth about $3.93 million in the third quarter, leaving institutional investors owning roughly 83.9% of the stock.
• nLight recently reported a quarterly beat with $0.14 EPS vs. $0.11 expected and revenue of $81.19M (up 71.3% year‑over‑year), while analysts hold a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $58.31 target price.
• Company insiders have been net sellers, offloading a total of 201,391 shares (~$9.89M) over the past 90 days, including a 66,075‑share sale by the CFO.

Pier Capital LLC bought a new position in nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 132,726 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,933,000. Pier Capital LLC owned 0.26% of nLight at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LASR. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of nLight by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 22,301 shares of the company's stock worth $661,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of nLight by 12.9% in the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 4,911 shares of the company's stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 561 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of nLight by 4.2% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 17,988 shares of the company's stock valued at $354,000 after buying an additional 723 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in nLight by 4.4% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,593 shares of the company's stock valued at $214,000 after buying an additional 1,170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in nLight during the third quarter worth about $49,000. 83.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LASR has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of nLight in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of nLight in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on shares of nLight in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of nLight from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of nLight to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, nLight has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.31.

nLight Stock Down 5.6%

Shares of NASDAQ LASR opened at $62.77 on Friday. nLight has a 12 month low of $6.20 and a 12 month high of $69.52. The company has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -133.55 and a beta of 2.27. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.77.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $81.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $76.71 million. nLight had a negative return on equity of 9.28% and a negative net margin of 8.98%.nLight's revenue was up 71.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.30) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that nLight will post -1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other nLight news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 66,075 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.32, for a total value of $2,399,844.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 196,224 shares in the company, valued at $7,126,855.68. This trade represents a 25.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO James Nias sold 3,249 shares of nLight stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total transaction of $201,308.04. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 95,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,930,005.72. The trade was a 3.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 201,391 shares of company stock worth $9,894,318 over the last ninety days. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

nLight 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.

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