nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Director Sells $564,319.20 in Stock

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Director Raymond Link sold 8,760 shares of nLight stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.42, for a total transaction of $564,319.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 83,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,399,426.72. This trade represents a 9.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

nLight Price Performance

Shares of LASR stock traded down $0.17 on Friday, reaching $62.60. 1,059,219 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,115,248. The company has a 50-day moving average of $51.32 and a 200-day moving average of $39.01. The company has a market cap of $3.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -133.19 and a beta of 2.27. nLight has a one year low of $6.20 and a one year high of $69.52.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of nLight from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of nLight to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on nLight from $40.00 to $62.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised nLight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.31.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in nLight by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in shares of nLight by 622.7% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 77,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $600,000 after buying an additional 66,518 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of nLight by 100.6% in the 2nd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 140,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,756,000 after buying an additional 70,236 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of nLight by 50.7% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 468,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,223,000 after acquiring an additional 157,768 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of nLight by 6.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,215,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,925,000 after acquiring an additional 68,436 shares during the last quarter. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.