Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Decreases Stake in nLight $LASR

Key Points

• Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. has reduced its holdings in nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) by 44.3%, owning 69,813 shares after selling 55,507 shares recently.
• CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 33,682 shares of nLight stock for approximately $657,809, resulting in a 2.72% decrease in his ownership stake.
• Analysts are optimistic about nLight, with upgrades and price targets being raised, including Benchmark's target rise from $15.00 to $25.00 and Needham's from $18.00 to $28.00.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. cut its stake in nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Free Report) by 44.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 69,813 shares of the company's stock after selling 55,507 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned about 0.14% of nLight worth $542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in shares of nLight by 26.6% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 31,227 shares of the company's stock worth $328,000 after acquiring an additional 6,561 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in nLight by 3,951.6% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,687 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 3,596 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in nLight by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 51,728 shares of the company's stock worth $543,000 after purchasing an additional 1,936 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in nLight by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 55,301 shares of the company's stock worth $580,000 after purchasing an additional 7,918 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. 83.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

nLight Price Performance

LASR stock traded up $1.09 during trading on Thursday, reaching $27.05. 598,317 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 611,741. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 4.41 and a current ratio of 5.63. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $20.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.82. nLight has a 52-week low of $6.20 and a 52-week high of $28.43. The company has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.47 and a beta of 2.35.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at nLight

In other news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.33, for a total transaction of $1,149,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,342,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,587,070.91. This represents a 5.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 10,062 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.62, for a total value of $177,292.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 166,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,931,298.44. This trade represents a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 253,262 shares of company stock valued at $4,820,870 over the last quarter. Insiders own 4.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LASR has been the topic of several research reports. Benchmark raised their price objective on nLight from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "speculative buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Craig Hallum reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $24.00 target price (up from $14.00) on shares of nLight in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on nLight from $18.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of nLight in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, nLight presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $26.42.

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.