nLight $LASR Shares Purchased by Hillsdale Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Hillsdale Investment Management massively increased its nLight stake in Q1, buying 114,612 additional shares and raising its holdings to 114,892 shares worth about $6.55 million.
• Insiders sold shares during the period: CFO Joseph John Corso and CEO Scott H. Keeney both sold stock under pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans, and insiders sold $28.4 million worth of shares over the last 90 days.
• nLight’s latest quarter beat expectations, with EPS of $0.20 versus $0.08 expected and revenue up 55.2% year over year to $80.18 million, while analysts remain generally bullish with an average price target of $80.94.

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Free Report) by 40,932.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 114,892 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 114,612 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.20% of nLight worth $6,551,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in nLight by 1,599.1% in 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 period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of nLight by 155.9% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 647 shares during the period. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of nLight in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Wexford Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of nLight in the third quarter valued at $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other nLight news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 35,476 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.40, for a total value of $2,497,510.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 177,572 shares in the company, valued at $12,501,068.80. This represents a 16.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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. Also, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 46,735 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total transaction of $3,200,412.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,375,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $162,675,541.12. The trade was a 1.93% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 391,038 shares of company stock valued at $28,367,419 over the last ninety days. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on LASR shares. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, May 8th. William Blair started coverage on nLight in a research report on Friday, March 27th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of nLight from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Craig Hallum increased their price target on shares of nLight from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of nLight in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $80.94.

nLight Price Performance

nLight stock opened at $71.48 on Wednesday. nLight has a 1-year low of $18.51 and a 1-year high of $86.95. The stock has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a PE ratio of -238.26 and a beta of 2.30. The stock's fifty day moving average is $70.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.16.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.12. nLight had a negative return on equity of 4.18% and a negative net margin of 5.08%.The company had revenue of $80.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.14 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.04) EPS. nLight's revenue for the quarter was up 55.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that nLight will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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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