AWM Investment Company Inc. Takes $65.37 Million Position in nLight $LASR

Key Points

• AWM Investment Company acquired 939,011 nLight shares worth approximately $65.37 million, making nLight its largest holding and representing about 5.7% of its portfolio.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $87.94, despite some recent downgrades to “Hold” and “Sell.”
• nLight exceeded quarterly expectations with $0.15 in EPS and $82.59 million in revenue, up 33.8% year over year, but the stock has fallen to $43.30 and insiders have sold $25.4 million of shares over the past three months.

AWM Investment Company Inc. acquired a new position in shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 939,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,374,000. nLight makes up 5.7% of AWM Investment Company Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. AWM Investment Company Inc. owned about 1.63% of nLight at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LASR. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of nLight by 1,599.1% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,727 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of nLight by 7,142.9% during the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of nLight by 155.9% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. Wexford Capital LP bought a new stake in nLight during the third quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of nLight by 7,871.4% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,116 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 1,102 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of nLight in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of nLight from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Craig Hallum raised their price objective on shares of nLight from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group set a $90.00 target price on nLight in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of nLight from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. One research 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $87.94.

nLight Price Performance

LASR opened at $43.30 on Wednesday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $62.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.50 billion, a P/E ratio of -173.20 and a beta of 2.31. nLight has a one year low of $27.22 and a one year high of $86.95.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $82.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $78.58 million. nLight had a negative net margin of 4.02% and a negative return on equity of 2.83%. nLight's revenue was up 33.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.06 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that nLight will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO James Nias sold 940 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.99, for a total transaction of $73,310.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 97,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,613,461.79. This trade represents a 0.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 181,750 shares of nLight stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.15, for a total transaction of $8,024,262.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,185,039 shares in the company, valued at $96,469,471.85. This trade represents a 7.68% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 479,831 shares of company stock worth $25,378,732 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company's stock.

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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