King Luther Capital Management Corp Invests $388,000 in nLight (NASDAQ:LASR)

Key Points

• King Luther Capital Management Corp acquired 50,000 shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR), valuing the investment at approximately $388,000, which reflects their growing interest in the company.
• Several analysts have recently upgraded their ratings for nLight, with target prices ranging from $24.00 to $28.00, indicating a positive outlook for the stock.
• nLight reported a quarterly earnings surprise by achieving $0.06 earnings per share (EPS), surpassing the analysts' consensus estimate of -$0.09, alongside a 22.2% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.

King Luther Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 50,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $388,000. King Luther Capital Management Corp owned approximately 0.10% of nLight at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LASR. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its holdings in nLight by 140.4% in the 1st quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 1,207,580 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,383,000 after purchasing an additional 705,215 shares in the last quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of nLight by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC now owns 2,652,115 shares of the company's stock worth $27,821,000 after acquiring an additional 314,375 shares in the last quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc purchased a new stake in shares of nLight during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,259,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of nLight by 515.8% during the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 229,168 shares of the company's stock worth $1,781,000 after acquiring an additional 191,954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of nLight during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,976,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.88% of the company's stock.

nLight Stock Down 0.3%

nLight stock traded down $0.07 during trading on Friday, reaching $26.18. 901,852 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,018,624. The company's 50-day moving average is $20.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 4.63 and a current ratio of 5.63. nLight has a 52-week low of $6.20 and a 52-week high of $28.43. The firm has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.56 and a beta of 2.35.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.15. The company had revenue of $61.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.24 million. nLight had a negative net margin of 21.66% and a negative return on equity of 19.12%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.10) EPS. On average, analysts predict that nLight will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at nLight

In other nLight news, CAO James Nias sold 1,113 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.73, for a total value of $29,750.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 103,082 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,755,381.86. This represents a 1.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 10,062 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.62, for a total transaction of $177,292.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 166,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,931,298.44. The trade was a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 203,028 shares of company stock valued at $3,475,052 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LASR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Craig Hallum reissued a "buy" rating and set a $24.00 price target (up previously from $14.00) on shares of nLight in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Benchmark boosted their price target on nLight from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "speculative buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on nLight from $14.00 to $27.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on nLight from $18.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of nLight in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $26.42.

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.