Joseph John Corso Sells 19,575 Shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Stock

Key Points

• nLight CFO Joseph John Corso sold 19,575 shares on May 18 at an average price of $70.82, generating about $1.39 million. The filing says the sale was made to cover tax withholding tied to vesting equity awards.
• Corso has been a frequent seller recently, also disposing of 18,445 shares on May 15 and additional blocks in early March, reducing his stake by 7.74% in the latest transaction.
• nLight’s recent results and outlook have been strong: the company beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, with revenue up 55.2% year over year, while analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $67.81.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) CFO Joseph John Corso sold 19,575 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.82, for a total transaction of $1,386,301.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 233,291 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,521,668.62. The trade was a 7.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Joseph John Corso also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, May 15th, Joseph John Corso sold 18,445 shares of nLight stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total transaction of $1,386,326.20.
• On Friday, March 6th, Joseph John Corso sold 12,290 shares of nLight stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.39, for a total value of $742,193.10.
• On Thursday, March 5th, Joseph John Corso sold 13,038 shares of nLight stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total value of $807,834.48.

nLight Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LASR traded down $1.34 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $69.49. The stock had a trading volume of 997,065 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,332,100. nLight has a 1-year low of $12.45 and a 1-year high of $86.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -231.63 and a beta of 2.34. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $68.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.29.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $80.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.14 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.04) EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 55.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that nLight will post -0.39 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of nLight

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LASR. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in nLight by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,593 shares of the company's stock valued at $214,000 after buying an additional 1,170 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 66,518 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 5,828 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of nLight by 7.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 107,417 shares of the company's stock worth $2,114,000 after acquiring an additional 7,179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of nLight in the second quarter worth $600,000. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on LASR shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of nLight from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on nLight from $40.00 to $62.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price objective (up from $68.00) on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of nLight from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, William Blair began coverage on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, March 27th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. One 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, nLight currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $67.81.

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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