nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Shares Up 6.1% - Here's Why

Key Points

• nLight shares rose 6.1% on Friday, trading as high as $68.94 before closing at $69.71, with volume well below its average session level.
• Recent analyst action has been mostly positive, including upgrades from Zacks and Wall Street Zen and price targets of $90 to $100; the stock now carries a consensus Buy rating and an average target of $80.94.
• nLight’s latest earnings beat expectations, posting $0.20 EPS versus the expected $0.08 and revenue of $80.18 million, up 55.2% year over year. However, insiders recently sold shares, including the CEO and CFO, under pre-arranged trading plans.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) traded up 6.1% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $68.94 and last traded at $69.71. 306,116 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 1,467,556 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.69.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of nLight from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of nLight in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded nLight from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. UBS Group set a $90.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, William Blair assumed coverage on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, March 27th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, nLight has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.94.

nLight Stock Up 8.0%

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.55. The firm has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -236.78 and a beta of 2.30.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.12. nLight had a negative net margin of 5.08% and a negative return on equity of 4.18%. The firm had revenue of $80.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $72.14 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.04) EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 55.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that nLight will post -0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 35,476 shares of nLight stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.40, for a total value of $2,497,510.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 177,572 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,501,068.80. The trade was a 16.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 46,735 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total transaction of $3,200,412.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,375,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $162,675,541.12. The trade was a 1.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 391,038 shares of company stock valued at $28,367,419 in the last quarter. 3.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of nLight

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tema ETFs LLC increased its holdings in shares of nLight by 84,128.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 394,191 shares of the company's stock worth $27,444,000 after purchasing an additional 393,723 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB bought a new position in shares of nLight during the second quarter valued at $1,100,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of nLight by 263.9% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 50,096 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,488,000 after purchasing an additional 36,329 shares in the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division boosted its position in shares of nLight by 22.3% during the second quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 19,457 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,355,000 after buying an additional 3,550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in nLight by 17.3% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 7,039 shares of the company's stock worth $401,000 after buying an additional 1,036 shares in the last quarter. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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