Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Purchases New Shares in nLight $LASR

Key Points

• Universal Beteiligungs purchased a new stake of 20,601 nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) shares in Q4 valued at about $788,000, and institutional investors now own roughly 83.9% of the company.
• Company insiders—including CFO Joseph John Corso and CEO Scott H. Keeney—have been selling shares, with insiders offloading a total of 130,780 shares valued at about $8.03 million over the last quarter; insiders now hold 3.10% of the stock.
• nLight beat quarterly estimates (EPS $0.14 vs. $0.11; revenue $81.19M, up 71.3% YoY) but remains unprofitable on margin metrics, and analysts have a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average price target of $63.44.

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 20,601 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $788,000.

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

Insider Transactions at nLight

In other news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 12,290 shares of nLight stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.39, for a total value of $742,193.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 170,896 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,320,409.44. This trade represents a 6.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 19,096 shares of nLight stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.80, for a total value of $1,122,844.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,210,029 shares of the company's stock, valued at $129,949,705.20. This trade represents a 0.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 130,780 shares of company stock valued at $8,032,729 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company's stock.

nLight Stock Performance

NASDAQ LASR opened at $70.98 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $64.86 and a 200-day moving average of $47.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -151.02 and a beta of 2.34. nLight has a 52 week low of $7.88 and a 52 week high of $80.27.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $81.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $76.71 million. nLight had a negative return on equity of 9.28% and a negative net margin of 8.98%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 71.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.30) EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that nLight will post -0.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LASR. Robert W. Baird began coverage on nLight in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, February 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on nLight from $40.00 to $62.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on nLight from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $63.44.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LASR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.