nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Shares Down 9.1% – Here’s Why

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR)’s stock price dropped 9.1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $65.01 and last traded at $64.9550. Approximately 398,882 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 1,474,355 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.48.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on LASR. Zacks Research raised shares of nLight from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. William Blair started coverage on nLight in a report on Friday, March 27th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on nLight from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group set a $90.00 price target on nLight in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $80.94.

nLight Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -218.96 and a beta of 2.30. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $70.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.55.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 46,735 shares of nLight stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total value of $3,200,412.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,375,519 shares in the company, valued at $162,675,541.12. This trade represents a 1.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 35,476 shares of nLight stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.40, for a total value of $2,497,510.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 177,572 shares in the company, valued at $12,501,068.80. This represents a 16.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 391,038 shares of company stock worth $28,367,419 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On nLight

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LASR. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of nLight by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in nLight by 0.7% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 41,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,384,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in nLight by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $516,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of nLight by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $997,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of nLight by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 6,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. 83.88% of the stock is 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.