American Century Companies Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in nLight $LASR

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. has increased its stake in nLight by 11.1%, owning 100,238 shares worth approximately $779,000, reflecting growing institutional interest in the company.
• Analysts are optimistic about nLight, with several firms raising their price targets significantly; Cantor Fitzgerald increased it from $14.00 to $27.50, indicating a strong bullish sentiment.
• nLight's stock has performed well, recently trading at $29.53, up 22.2% in revenue compared to the same quarter last year, despite reporting a negative return on equity and net margin.

American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Free Report) by 11.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 100,238 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,032 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.20% of nLight worth $779,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of nLight by 322.3% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 15,571 shares of the company's stock worth $121,000 after buying an additional 11,884 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of nLight in the first quarter worth approximately $888,000. King Luther Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of nLight in the first quarter worth approximately $388,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of nLight by 14.6% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 59,298 shares of the company's stock worth $461,000 after buying an additional 7,570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of nLight by 2.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,667,332 shares of the company's stock worth $28,495,000 after buying an additional 74,163 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.88% of the company's stock.

nLight Price Performance

LASR traded down $0.38 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $28.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 620,066 shares, compared to its average volume of 639,594. The business's 50-day moving average price is $23.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.37. nLight has a 12 month low of $6.20 and a 12 month high of $30.00. The stock has a market cap of $1.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.99 and a beta of 2.44. The company has a current ratio of 5.63, a quick ratio of 4.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.15. The company had revenue of $61.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.24 million. nLight had a negative net margin of 21.66% and a negative return on equity of 19.12%. nLight's quarterly revenue was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.10) earnings per share. nLight has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that nLight will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at nLight

In related news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 35,730 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.63, for a total value of $1,058,679.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,406,540 shares of the company's stock, valued at $71,305,780.20. This represents a 1.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 38,284 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.29, for a total transaction of $1,083,054.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 273,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,726,508.22. This represents a 12.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 364,300 shares of company stock valued at $9,374,016. 6.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LASR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of nLight from $12.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Craig Hallum restated a "buy" rating and set a $24.00 target price (up previously from $14.00) on shares of nLight in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of nLight from $14.00 to $27.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of nLight from $18.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, nLight has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $26.42.

nLight Company 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.