nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) CEO Sells $8,422,000.00 in Stock

Key Points

• CEO Scott Keeney sold 200,000 nLight shares for $8.422 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing his stake by 10.2%; he still directly owns 1,760,034 shares.
• nLight beat quarterly estimates, reporting EPS of $0.16 versus $0.05 expected and revenue of $73.76 million, up 10.5% year over year.
• Shares fell 3.2% in Thursday mid-day trading. Analysts’ consensus rating was “Buy,” with a $82.06 consensus price target.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) CEO Scott Keeney sold 200,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.11, for a total transaction of $8,422,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,760,034 shares in the company, valued at $74,115,031.74. This trade represents a 10.20% 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.

nLight Trading Down 3.2%

Shares of LASR traded down $1.42 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $43.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 734,035 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,352,788. The company's 50-day moving average is $38.60 and its 200-day moving average is $57.18. nLight has a 52-week low of $28.05 and a 52-week high of $86.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -187.22 and a beta of 2.46.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $73.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.16 million. nLight had a negative net margin of 4.02% and a negative return on equity of 1.03%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that nLight will post -0.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On nLight

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LASR. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of nLight during the 2nd quarter valued at $8,938,000. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in nLight by 2,995.5% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 406,624 shares of the company's stock worth $28,309,000 after buying an additional 393,488 shares during the last quarter. Amundi purchased a new position in nLight during the 1st quarter worth $1,023,000. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC purchased a new position in nLight during the 2nd quarter worth $3,740,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in nLight by 743.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 422,295 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,446,000 after buying an additional 372,199 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.88% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LASR. Wall Street Zen downgraded nLight from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Northcoast Research raised nLight from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of nLight in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on nLight in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded nLight from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $82.06.

About nLight

nLIGHT, Inc. develops and manufactures lasers and related photonics products for industrial, aerospace and defense applications. Its offerings include high-power semiconductor lasers, fiber lasers and ultrafast lasers, along with components and systems used to deliver and control laser energy. The company's products support applications such as materials processing and other industrial tasks, as well as defense technologies including directed-energy systems. nLIGHT serves customers in the United States and international markets.

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