Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires 36,329 Shares of nLight $LASR

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management increased its nLight stake by 263.9% in the second quarter, acquiring 36,329 additional shares and ending the period with 50,096 shares worth approximately $3.49 million. Institutional investors collectively own 83.88% of LASR.
• nLight reported quarterly revenue of $82.59 million, up 33.8% year over year and above analyst expectations, while adjusted EPS of $0.15 narrowly beat estimates. The company remains unprofitable, with a negative net margin of 4.02%.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.94, although recent insider sales totaled $28.4 million and included transactions by the CEO and chief accounting officer.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Free Report) by 263.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 50,096 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 36,329 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.09% of nLight worth $3,488,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LASR. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its position in nLight by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,225 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of nLight by 0.7% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 41,808 shares of the company's stock worth $2,384,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of nLight by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,745 shares of the company's stock worth $516,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of nLight by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,574 shares of the company's stock worth $997,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of nLight by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 6,003 shares of the company's stock valued at $225,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares during the period. 83.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

nLight Trading Up 7.8%

LASR stock opened at $53.04 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a PE ratio of -212.16 and a beta of 2.31. nLight has a 1-year low of $24.87 and a 1-year high of $86.95. The business's 50-day moving average price is $66.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.91.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.01. nLight had a negative return on equity of 3.19% and a negative net margin of 4.02%.The business had revenue of $82.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.58 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.06 EPS. nLight's revenue for the quarter was up 33.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that nLight will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other nLight news, CAO James Nias sold 940 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.99, for a total transaction of $73,310.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 97,621 shares in the company, valued at $7,613,461.79. This trade represents a 0.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 16,089 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total value of $1,200,239.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,185,039 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $163,003,909.40. This represents a 0.73% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 391,038 shares of company stock valued at $28,367,419 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LASR. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of nLight from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of nLight from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, July 17th. UBS Group set a $90.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $81.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, nLight presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $87.94.

About nLight

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source