nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Hits New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday after Craig Hallum raised their price target on the stock from $14.00 to $24.00. Craig Hallum currently has a buy rating on the stock. nLight traded as high as $19.64 and last traded at $19.42, with a volume of 139591 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.29.

Separately, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on nLight from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, nLight presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $17.70.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 10,062 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.62, for a total value of $177,292.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 166,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,931,298.44. The trade was a 5.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 40,680 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.07, for a total value of $653,727.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,281,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,594,347.80. The trade was a 3.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 168,233 shares of company stock worth $2,787,492. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of nLight

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

nLight Stock Up 5.5%

The company has a 50 day moving average of $13.30 and a 200-day moving average of $10.98. The company has a market capitalization of $954.34 million, a P/E ratio of -17.23 and a beta of 2.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 5.81 and a quick ratio of 4.63.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) last released its 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 net margin of 26.80% and a negative return on equity of 22.23%. The firm had revenue of $51.67 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.77 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.17) EPS. The company's revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that nLight will post -1.1 EPS for the current year.

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.

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