Senvest Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in nLight $LASR

Key Points

• Senvest Management LLC cut its nLight stake by 76% in the first quarter, selling 758,047 shares and leaving it with 239,454 shares valued at about $13.65 million.
• nLight reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.20 versus the $0.08 consensus and revenue of $80.18 million, up 55.2% from a year earlier.
• Despite some mixed signals from insiders selling shares, Wall Street remains mostly bullish on LASR, with a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $80.94.

Senvest Management LLC lessened its stake in nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Free Report) by 76.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 239,454 shares of the company's stock after selling 758,047 shares during the period. Senvest Management LLC owned 0.42% of nLight worth $13,654,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LASR. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of nLight by 4.4% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,593 shares of the company's stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in nLight by 622.7% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 77,201 shares of the company's stock valued at $600,000 after buying an additional 66,518 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in nLight by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 75,545 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,487,000 after buying an additional 5,828 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in nLight by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 107,417 shares of the company's stock worth $2,114,000 after buying an additional 7,179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in shares of nLight in the 2nd quarter worth $600,000. 83.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

nLight Stock Down 4.1%

NASDAQ:LASR opened at $70.02 on Friday. nLight has a fifty-two week low of $18.62 and a fifty-two week high of $86.95. The stock has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a PE ratio of -233.39 and a beta of 2.30. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $69.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.78.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.12. nLight had a negative net margin of 5.08% and a negative return on equity of 4.18%. The business had revenue of $80.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.14 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.04) EPS. The business's revenue was up 55.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that nLight will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LASR. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, May 8th. 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded nLight from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $80.94.

Insider Transactions at nLight

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

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. 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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