nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst consensus: Twelve brokerages rate nLight a consensus "Moderate Buy" (1 sell, 1 hold, 9 buy, 1 strong buy) with an average 12‑month price target of $58.31, and several firms recently raised targets (e.g., Baird $95, Raymond James $75, Needham $70).
• Insider selling: CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 32,239 shares and CFO Joseph J. Corso sold 13,038 shares on March 5; insiders have offloaded 130,780 shares (≈$8.03M) in the last 90 days while retaining 6.10% ownership.
• Quarterly results: nLight beat estimates with $0.14 EPS vs $0.11 expected and $81.19M revenue vs $76.71M (revenue +71.3% YoY), but the company still shows negative net margin/ROE and sell‑side analysts forecast -1.1 EPS for the fiscal year.

Shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $58.3125.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of nLight in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of nLight in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of nLight from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded nLight to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th.

Insider Transactions at nLight

In other news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 32,239 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total transaction of $1,997,528.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,252,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $139,582,310.76. This trade represents a 1.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 13,038 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total value of $807,834.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 183,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,350,204.56. This trade represents a 6.64% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 130,780 shares of company stock worth $8,032,729 in the last ninety days. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On nLight

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in nLight in the 4th quarter worth about $41,315,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in nLight by 377.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,057,281 shares of the company's stock worth $31,327,000 after purchasing an additional 835,720 shares in the last quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in nLight in the 3rd quarter worth about $22,809,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in nLight by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,864,312 shares of the company's stock worth $144,130,000 after purchasing an additional 747,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in nLight by 537.8% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 631,486 shares of the company's stock worth $18,711,000 after purchasing an additional 532,470 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.88% of the company's stock.

nLight Trading Down 4.3%

LASR stock opened at $66.87 on Wednesday. nLight has a 1-year low of $6.91 and a 1-year high of $74.10. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $60.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a PE ratio of -142.28 and a beta of 2.27.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.03. nLight had a negative return on equity of 9.28% and a negative net margin of 8.98%.The business had revenue of $81.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $76.71 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.30) EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 71.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that nLight will post -1.1 EPS for the current fiscal 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. 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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