nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Hits New 12-Month High - Here's What Happened

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $20.01 and last traded at $19.14, with a volume of 783746 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $19.68.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on LASR shares. Craig Hallum reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $24.00 target price (up previously from $14.00) on shares of nLight in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on nLight from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $17.70.

nLight Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $973.97 million, a P/E ratio of -17.43 and a beta of 2.33. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $14.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 4.63 and a current ratio of 5.81.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.17) by $0.13. nLight had a negative return on equity of 22.23% and a negative net margin of 26.80%. The firm had revenue of $51.67 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.77 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.17) earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that nLight will post -1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 10,062 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.62, for a total value of $177,292.44. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 166,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,931,298.44. This represents a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 33,682 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.53, for a total transaction of $657,809.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,206,540 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,563,726.20. This represents a 2.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 201,915 shares of company stock worth $3,445,301. 4.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Senvest Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of nLight by 114.1% during the fourth quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 2,481,677 shares of the company's stock worth $26,033,000 after acquiring an additional 1,322,637 shares during the period. Invenomic Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of nLight during the first quarter worth approximately $6,763,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its holdings in nLight by 140.4% during the 1st quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 1,207,580 shares of the company's stock worth $9,383,000 after purchasing an additional 705,215 shares during the last quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in nLight by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC now owns 2,652,115 shares of the company's stock worth $27,821,000 after purchasing an additional 314,375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AWM Investment Company Inc. boosted its stake in nLight by 29.5% in the 1st quarter. AWM Investment Company Inc. now owns 1,319,917 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,256,000 after purchasing an additional 300,924 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.88% of the company's stock.

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.