Royce & Associates LP Cuts Stock Holdings in nLight $LASR

Key Points

• Royce & Associates LP cut its nLight stake by 30.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 404,539 shares and leaving it with 924,383 shares valued at about $34.7 million.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but generally positive: nLight has a Moderate Buy consensus, with multiple firms raising price targets, though Weiss Ratings maintained a sell rating.
• nLight’s latest earnings beat expectations, reporting $0.20 EPS versus $0.08 expected and revenue up 55.2% year over year to $80.18 million.

Royce & Associates LP reduced its position in nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Free Report) by 30.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 924,383 shares of the company's stock after selling 404,539 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned 1.82% of nLight worth $34,674,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of nLight by 155.9% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new position in shares of nLight in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of nLight by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,225 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Wexford Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of nLight in the 3rd quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of nLight by 1,599.1% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,727 shares in the last quarter. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LASR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on nLight from $40.00 to $62.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on nLight in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of nLight in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. William Blair initiated coverage on nLight in a research note on Friday, March 27th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on nLight from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, nLight has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $69.06.

Insider Activity

In other nLight news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 35,476 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.40, for a total transaction of $2,497,510.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 177,572 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,501,068.80. This represents a 16.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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, CAO James Nias sold 415 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.09, for a total value of $29,502.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 98,561 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,006,701.49. This trade represents a 0.42% 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 405,487 shares of company stock valued at $27,566,119. Insiders own 3.10% of the company's stock.

nLight Stock Performance

NASDAQ LASR opened at $78.54 on Tuesday. nLight has a 1-year low of $13.45 and a 1-year high of $86.95. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $69.03 and a 200-day moving average of $52.54. The firm has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a PE ratio of -261.79 and a beta of 2.34.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $72.14 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.04) EPS. nLight's revenue for the quarter was up 55.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that nLight will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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