nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Shares Up 5.8% After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• nLight's stock price increased by 5.8% after Cantor Fitzgerald raised its price target from $27.50 to $33.50, indicating strong analyst support with an overweight rating.
• Multiple brokerages have raised their price targets on nLight, with the consensus rating currently at "Buy" and an average target price of $27.42.
• Insider trading activity included significant share sales by the CFO and CEO, who sold a total of over $2 million worth of shares, reducing their holdings in the company.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 5.8% during trading on Monday after Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on the stock from $27.50 to $33.50. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has an overweight rating on the stock. nLight traded as high as $30.56 and last traded at $30.32. 289,958 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 634,504 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.67.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Benchmark boosted their price objective on nLight from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "speculative buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on nLight from $18.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of nLight in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Craig Hallum reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $24.00 price target (up previously from $14.00) on shares of nLight in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on nLight from $12.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $27.42.

Insider Activity at nLight

In other nLight news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 38,284 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.29, for a total transaction of $1,083,054.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 273,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,726,508.22. This represents a 12.29% 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, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 35,732 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.29, for a total value of $1,010,858.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,513,734 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $71,113,534.86. This trade represents a 1.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 346,155 shares of company stock valued at $9,371,219. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On nLight

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in nLight by 72.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 209,644 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,199,000 after purchasing an additional 87,788 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in nLight by 2.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,667,332 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,495,000 after purchasing an additional 74,163 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp bought a new position in nLight during the first quarter valued at $388,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its holdings in shares of nLight by 140.4% in the first quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 1,207,580 shares of the company's stock worth $9,383,000 after acquiring an additional 705,215 shares during the period. Finally, Keeley Teton Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of nLight by 89.7% in the first quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC now owns 127,356 shares of the company's stock worth $990,000 after acquiring an additional 60,221 shares during the period. 83.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

nLight Stock Down 0.5%

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $24.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 5.63 and a quick ratio of 4.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.88 and a beta of 2.44.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.15. nLight had a negative return on equity of 19.12% and a negative net margin of 21.66%.The firm had revenue of $61.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.24 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.10) earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. nLight has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that nLight will post -1.1 earnings per share 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.