nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Stock Price Down 6.4% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• nLight shares fell 6.4% on Tuesday, trading as low as $65.11 before closing near $65.15, with volume far below average.
• Despite the drop, the company recently posted better-than-expected quarterly results, earning $0.20 per share on revenue of $80.18 million versus analyst estimates of $0.08 per share and $72.14 million in revenue.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on the stock, with multiple analysts raising price targets and the consensus rating at Moderate Buy with a target price of $69.06.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 6.4% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $65.11 and last traded at $65.1460. 159,821 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 1,471,467 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.63.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LASR. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on nLight from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on nLight from $40.00 to $62.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. William Blair began coverage on nLight in a research report on Friday, March 27th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird began coverage on nLight in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $69.06.

nLight Trading Down 4.5%

The firm's 50-day moving average price is $71.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.83. The stock has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a PE ratio of -220.07 and a beta of 2.31.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $72.14 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.04) EPS. The company's revenue was up 55.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that nLight will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at nLight

In other news, CAO James Nias sold 940 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.99, for a total value of $73,310.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 97,621 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,613,461.79. This represents a 0.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 16,089 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total transaction of $1,200,239.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,185,039 shares of the company's stock, valued at $163,003,909.40. The trade was a 0.73% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 391,038 shares of company stock valued at $28,367,419. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On nLight

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FNY Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of nLight by 6,151.0% during the third quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 41,819 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,239,000 after acquiring an additional 41,150 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in nLight by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,989,758 shares of the company's stock valued at $187,166,000 after purchasing an additional 125,446 shares in the last quarter. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC increased its stake in nLight by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC now owns 103,978 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,900,000 after purchasing an additional 19,435 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in nLight during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $788,000. Finally, Portolan Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in nLight during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $22,809,000. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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. 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.