Polen Capital Management LLC Acquires 9,806 Shares of nLight $LASR

Polen Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) by 18.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 61,624 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,806 shares during the quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC’s holdings in nLight were worth $2,312,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in nLight by 2.6% in the fourth 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. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in nLight by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,234,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,320,000 after purchasing an additional 20,043 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in nLight by 377.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,057,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,327,000 after purchasing an additional 835,720 shares in the last quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC bought a new position in nLight in the third quarter valued at $22,809,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in nLight by 119.4% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 755,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,393,000 after purchasing an additional 411,360 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

nLight Price Performance

Shares of LASR opened at $70.19 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $70.70 and a 200-day moving average of $56.31. nLight has a one year low of $16.87 and a one year high of $86.95. The company has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a PE ratio of -233.96 and a beta of 2.31.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $80.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.14 million. nLight had a negative net margin of 5.08% and a negative return on equity of 4.18%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 55.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.04) EPS. Analysts expect that nLight will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of nLight in a research report on Friday, March 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of nLight in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen raised shares of nLight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of nLight from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a research report on Friday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned 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, nLight presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.06.

Insider Transactions at nLight

In other news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 3,817 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.90, for a total transaction of $278,259.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 169,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,386,803.50. This trade represents a 2.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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, CAO James Nias sold 940 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.99, for a total transaction of $73,310.60. Following 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 391,038 shares of company stock worth $28,367,419. 3.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.