Insider Selling: nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) CAO Sells 1,113 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• nLight's CAO, James Nias, sold 1,113 shares at an average price of $26.73, reducing his ownership by 1.07% and leaving him with 103,082 shares valued at approximately $2.76 million.
• nLight reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.06, exceeding analysts' expectations of ($0.09), with revenue increasing 22.2% year-over-year to $61.74 million.
• Analyst ratings for nLight have improved, with several brokerages raising their price targets, resulting in a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $26.42.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) CAO James Nias sold 1,113 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.73, for a total transaction of $29,750.49. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 103,082 shares in the company, valued at $2,755,381.86. This trade represents a 1.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

James Nias also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, May 20th, James Nias sold 1,173 shares of nLight stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.00, for a total transaction of $15,249.00.

nLight Stock Up 1.2%

LASR traded up $0.32 during trading on Friday, hitting $26.57. The company had a trading volume of 248,820 shares, compared to its average volume of 603,839. nLight has a 1-year low of $6.20 and a 1-year high of $28.43. The business has a 50-day moving average of $19.88 and a 200-day moving average of $13.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 5.63 and a quick ratio of 4.63. The company has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a PE ratio of -27.95 and a beta of 2.35.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LASR. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of nLight from $12.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of nLight from $14.00 to $27.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of nLight from $18.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of nLight from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "speculative buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $26.42.

Institutional Trading of nLight

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LASR. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in nLight by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 159,648 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,675,000 after acquiring an additional 15,904 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in nLight by 72.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 209,644 shares of the company's stock worth $2,199,000 after acquiring an additional 87,788 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its holdings in nLight by 140.4% in the 1st quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 1,207,580 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,383,000 after buying an additional 705,215 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its holdings in nLight by 345.1% in the 1st quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 48,757 shares of the company's stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 37,803 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of nLight by 39.9% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 123,559 shares of the company's stock worth $1,296,000 after purchasing an additional 35,260 shares during the last quarter. 83.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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