Insider Selling: nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) CEO Sells $1,997,528.44 in Stock

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) CEO Scott Keeney sold 32,239 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,252,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $139,582,310.76. This represents a 1.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

nLight Price Performance

LASR traded up $2.36 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $61.00. 1,689,616 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,992,397. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $49.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -129.79 and a beta of 2.27. nLight has a 52 week low of $6.20 and a 52 week high of $69.52.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $81.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $76.71 million. nLight had a negative return on equity of 9.28% and a negative net margin of 8.98%.The business’s revenue was up 71.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.30) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that nLight will post -1.1 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LASR. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of nLight to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of nLight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of nLight from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.31.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of nLight by 1,599.1% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,727 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of nLight by 7,142.9% during the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in nLight by 155.9% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the period. Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new stake in shares of nLight in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Wexford Capital LP bought a new position in shares of nLight in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. 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.