nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Given Average Recommendation of "Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) has garnered a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from six brokerages, with an average price target of $26.42.
• CEO Scott H. Keeney recently sold 75,000 shares at an average price of $15.33, reducing his stake by 5.29% to approximately 1.34 million shares.
• The stock has seen a 25.7% increase recently, trading at $25.74, with a market capitalization of approximately $1.27 billion.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Buy" from the six research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $26.4167.

Several research firms have weighed in on LASR. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of nLight from $12.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of nLight from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "speculative buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of nLight from $14.00 to $27.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of nLight from $18.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday.

Insider Transactions at nLight

In other news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 10,062 shares of nLight stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.62, for a total transaction of $177,292.44. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 33,682 shares of the business'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 directly owned 1,206,540 shares in the company, valued at $23,563,726.20. The trade was a 2.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 201,915 shares of company stock worth $3,445,301 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 6.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On nLight

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of nLight in the second quarter worth approximately $859,000. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of nLight by 15.8% in the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 29,053 shares of the company's stock worth $572,000 after buying an additional 3,957 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of nLight by 6.9% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 59,166 shares of the company's stock worth $1,164,000 after buying an additional 3,814 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of nLight by 6.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,215,479 shares of the company's stock worth $23,925,000 after buying an additional 68,436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lisanti Capital Growth LLC purchased a new position in shares of nLight during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,601,000. Institutional investors own 83.88% of the company's stock.

nLight Price Performance

Shares of nLight stock traded up $0.90 on Friday, hitting $27.38. 97,435 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 598,069. The company has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.02 and a beta of 2.35. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $19.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.09. nLight has a 12-month low of $6.20 and a 12-month high of $27.80. The company has a current ratio of 5.81, a quick ratio of 4.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.15. The business had revenue of $61.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.24 million. nLight had a negative net margin of 21.66% and a negative return on equity of 19.01%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.10) earnings per share. Analysts expect that nLight will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.